Prof. (Dr.) R.D. Gupta
These days more than 1.1 billion people in the developing countries including India have no adequate access to drinking water and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation facilities. In India alone, approximately 50 million people still have no provision for drinking pure water and more than 450 million people obtain partial supply of drinking water. More than 200 million of the rural poor dwell in the rainfed areas. These risk prone areas exhibit a wide variation not only for drinking water but also instability in crop yields. Thus, one of the most serious problems which the rural people face is lack of drinking water for their own consumption as well as for their cattle and irrigating the crops. Water required for cooking, bathing, washing of clothes and other domestic chores also becomes difficult to come by. Not only this, the drinking water which is available is neither clean and is nor free from harmful bacterial contamination.
Water supply system being State Subject, its all schemes for supplying drinking water are always for mulated and implemented by the state government, except those which have to be run through Central Government. As for instance, Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programmes (ARWSP) are submitted through Central Government for technical scrutiny and approval. Now a days seven basic areas have been identified to accelerate the development of the rural area. Of which three have been accorded on top priority. These are drinking water, primary education and construction of roads. The remaining consist of housing, streamlining of Public Distribution System and Public Health facilities in rural and urban areas.
The position of drinking water supply in many areas of the country is inadequate, while in others especially in hilly areas where rainfall is quite satisfactory, however, facilities for storing the water are not yet available in the hilly areas. In drought prone areas, there is immense pressure on the scarce water supplies to meet numerous other demands like bathing, washing of clothes and cooking along with meeting the drinking water requirement. Whatever, meager sources from springs, ponds and wells often become contaminated with harmful microbes.
In rural India, water is generally obtained from wells, ponds, lakes, rivers etc. At many places women folk have to bring potable water from far off places. The rural economy depends on agriculture for which water is considered the most important input. Water for agriculture is normally drawn from ponds, canals, rivers and wells.
Many people living in the countryside do not know that water containing excessive fluoride leads to a disease known as Fluorosis in humans and animals. In this disease, teeth and bones become soft and brittal and hence incapable of their functions normally. Such ailments are quite wide spread in some rural areas of Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and West Bengal.
In India, as also in many other countries pollution of rivers has been a big problem. As is well known that some states are already facing water crises, both in the rural and urban areas. Lakhs of residents living in 40 villages of Ludhiana are yet to get reprieve from the pollution caused to underground water by the Budda Nallah, a large sewerage drain that crisscrosses the district and carries toxic elements into the river Sutlej. The water of the river Ganges flowing by the side of both Allahabad/Vanaras and Kolkata is extremely polluted, and contains all sorts of dangerous bacteria. This water does not remain fit to drink for the rural people living in the villages lying in the path of the river.
Many women in the village of Budgam, Baramulla, Pulwama and Handwara of Kashmir valley have admitted they were having many health problems like Diarrhoea, frequent skin fungal disease and itchiness were generally using dirty and polluted water, for bathing or washing their clothes or due to coming in contact with night soil (Ezabir All, 2008).
Strategies
As water is a major component of life and environment with its limited fresh resources, so it must be utilized quite economically. Citing priorities, it was said that water is first to be provided for drinking and, thereafter for irrigation, power generation and shipping and industry.
The villages which do not have an assured source of drinking water within a reasonable distance i.e 1.6 Km; where the available water has an excess of salinity, Fe, Mn, F and other toxic elements and those in which diseases like cholera, guinea-worm etc; are endemic. These villages are considered the problematic ones and are required to be under the 20 point programme of the government. Moreover, all these villages must be included in the minimum needs programme as laid down in the fifth plan and onwards.
State Governments are required to reconsider some new policies concerning redefinition of problem villages, per capita norm, delegation of powers for giving technical approval to chief engineers and utilizing available funds for the schemes.
The twelfth five year plan should cover villages which do not have an assured water supply in the rural areas within a distance of 0.5 Km against norm of 1.6m. Where the physiographic gradients are not favourable, it is necessary to lift water, lifting being done manually or by bullock. In many areas where water in wells and other natural sources is saline because of dissolved salts and other impurities. Such areas have to be supplied with drinking water through tankers or where this is not possible, women folk have to bear the burden of carrying drinking water over tire some distances.
Illicit cutting or felling of trees i.e, deforestation must be totally banned. It is because with the increased deforestation of the catchments of the lakes and rivers, the top soil during rains particularly in rainy season, becomes loose and finds its way into the water bodies through run off. Along with the soil, there is entry of organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus which lead to an intensification of Eutrophication. Settling of soil down at the bottom of lakes accompanied with eutrophication tend the lakes shallow and reduction of their water spread area. The water of the water bodies become dirty unfit for drinking purposes. It is necessary that not only proper plans be formulated but also that they are implemented sincerely.
The difficulties in securing clean drinking water faced by people in the rural areas as well as district head quarters of Kathua, Rajouri, Poonch, Udhampur, Ramban, Doda, Reasi in the recent past must be tackled effectively.
Drinking water has to make free from diseases germs like bacteria, Viruses, protozoa and worms besides being physically clean and acceptable in taste. In any planning for drinking water supply schemes, these are the most important factors to be kept in mind for the smooth living of the rural people.
Total sanitation campaign (TSC) is required to be implemented wherever it is possible. Most of the women including men of many rural areas of Kashmir valley felt that since they have adopted the sanitary latrine the incidence of Diarrhoea in children has been reduced in their households. They have also realized that women had lesser skin and eye infection due to adoption of TSC.
As water is the main problem of the villages due to its scarcity and contamination, so water harvesting has been accorded high priority in the watershed. For this purpose land has to be developed to receive the rainwater in such a way so as to utilize the maximum for plant growth and rest into storage or ground water storage for later use by man and animal. The PHE Department should deploy its staff by rotation to control the waste water, where it occurs frequently through leaking pipes and other top soil during rains particularly.
(The author is former Associate Dean-cum Chief Scientist KVK, SKUAST-J)
feedbackexcelsior@gmail.com
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel