Ram Rattan Sharma
Once India’svillages had rich sources of water and the villages were the hubs of the traditional knowledge of water conservation. Appropriate technologies and innovations can play a pivotal role in making available safe and clean drinking water to the rural population in our country. If technologies and innovations are equipped with the insight of traditional knowledge system of India, then drinking water supply in rural parts of the country can be realized. A traditional approach is also essential to achieve this goal. According to the world health organization, 84 percent of Indians, who don’t have access to clean water and sanitation live in rural communities. As per the review of the millemium development goals done by the united nations, out of the 35 Indians states, only 7 have achieved full coverage of having a safe water source for their villages. Ground water in most cities and 19000 villages contains fluorides, nitrates, pesticides, etc, beyond the permissible limits. Drinking water quality thus remains an issue and this reflects the fact that approximately 21 percent of communicable diseases are water borne and 75 percent of water related deaths are of infants under five years. Water is essential for plants, animals humans and other life forms on the earth. Growing human population has created many challenges to environment and the existence of different living organisms. Environment and its major components such as air, water and soil are facing the pressure of human population. Pollution is a prominent and adverse outcome of increasing human population.
The decline in ground water levels, contamination of water sourced and increased consumption are some big problems related to water resources. In such a scenario, availability of safe, clean and affordable water is a big challenge. The provision of safe drinking water and improvement of sanitation services to the disadvantaged and excluded were seen by developing countries around the world,as the most challenging task. In appropriate coverage, poor quality and unreliable and unsustainable water supplies have an adverse effect on Socio-economic development of these countries. In addition, it is not sufficient to gurantee safe water alone if people do not have proper sanitation facilities or develop good hygienic practices, because diseases cannot be propagated by water contamination alone but by also other means. UNICEF estimates the contribution of water related diseases to almost 4 million child deaths each year globally. Millions of people around the world suffer from water and sanitation related diseases mostly in developing countries .It has become increasingly obvious that a new approach must be evolved in order to provide better service to vulnerable sections of society.
For making India a water secured nation especially the rural regions of the country, a lot of challenges need to be addressed. Demand pressures from various sectors, changing cropping pattern, high rate of urbanization and industrialization and most importantly , climate change are some of the factors that need to be addressed. Water pollution is another big challenge that India is facing today. The effort required to build a water secured nation is massive.Overall, India in real sense is mining ground water and is way ahead, interms of total ground water withdrawal of various countries. Rural regions in India, which primarily have agricultural and domestic water requirements, suffer from many challenges. Such as water pollution and decreasing ground water availability etc. Arsenic and fluoride contamination is very high in some of the regions of the country.
Water quality has emerged as a major issue in the Rural drinking water supply. The Govt has launched the National rural drinking water quality monitoring and surveillance programme, which institutionalized the community participation of state and district level laboratories for the monitoring of drinking water sources at the grass root level through gram panchyats. The states implement systems for drinking water supply schemes, safe and readily available water is important for public health. The basic physiological requirement for drinking water has been estimated at 2 liters per person per day. This is minimum for survival and consumption of water depends upon life style, climatic condition and habits. The domestic use of water is considered for the purpose of drinking , cooking, bathing, washing, flushing of the toilet as well as for watering the plants at home or kitchen or inhome garden. For urban settings, the water availability of 150-200 liter per person is considered adequate to meet all domestic purposes. In rural India, a norm of 40 liters per person per day is a set target. From the public health view point and to improve quality of life, water should be provided in adequate quantityand it must be available close to the people. Contaminated water and poor sanitation are linked to transmission of diseases such as cholera, Diarrohea, Dysentry, Hepatitis A. Hepatitis E, Typhoid and Polio. In addition to these water transmitted diseases there are water-borne, water related and water washed diseases. Absent, inadequate or inappropriately managed water and sanitation service expose individuals to preventative health risk. The water borne diseases are one of the key health challenges in India. As per official data published in national health profile of India, 2018, nearly a quarter or one in every four cases reported and one in every five deaths reported are attributable to communicable diseases in India.
Improved water supply and Sanitation, and better managementof water resources, can boost countries’ economic growth and can contribute greatly to poverty reduction.
When water comes from improved and more accessible sources, people spend less time and effort in physically collecting it, meaning they can be productive in other ways. It is not the drinking water only which is linked to better health. Water Sanitation and hygiene are interlinked, and the availability of safe drinking water is very much linked to the overall availability of which inturn affects the overall health of people. With children particularly at risk from water-related diseases, it is estimated that by 2025, nearhalf of the world’s population will be living in water stressed areas. There is need to conserve water , adopt approaches to reuse water, and invest enough resources to ensure the availability of water. Ensuring drinking water availability and improving sanitation is a development issue and agenda, which will contribute to economic growth and achievement of many other sustainable development goals in India.
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