Water woes in rural india

The rural population of India comprises more than 700 million people residing in over 15 diverse ecological regions. It is true that providing drinking water to such a large population is an enormous challenge given the non-uniformity in levels of awareness, socio-economic development, education, poverty, practices and rituals which add to the complexity of providing water.

Drinking water quality in rural
India: Issues and approachesThe health burden of poor water quality is enormous. It is estimated that around 37.7 million Indians are affected by waterborne diseases annually; 1.5 million children are estimated to die of diarrhoea alone.
Water-related diseases also put an economic burden on both the household and nation’s economy. The inadequate access to water has been often cited as the primary factor responsible for limiting development. The average availability of water is reducing steadily with the growing population and it is estimated that by 2020 India will become a water-stressed nation.
The authors point out that accessing drinking water continues to be a problem. Making the water safe for drinking is also a challenge by itself. Water quality problems are caused by pollution and over-exploitation. The rapid pace of industrialisation and greater emphasis on agricultural growth combined with financial and technological constraints and non-enforcement of laws have led to generation of large quantities of waste and pollution. The authors note that in India, investments on community water supply and sanitation projects have increased steadily, but health benefits in terms of reduction in water-borne diseases have not been commensurate with the investments made.
Lack of awareness, surveillance, monitoring and testing, mitigation measures, availability of alternate water resources and adoption of hygienic practices continue to be roadblocks. The paper stresses on the need for user element in maintaining water quality and looking at other aspects like hygiene, environment sanitation, storage and disposal to maintain the quality of water resources.
The role of government is crucial in supporting awareness drives, establishing monitoring stations and building capacities of communities.
Exploring low cost treatment technologies, water harvesting, revival of traditional water conservation structures and coordination between different departments associated with water and surveillance at the grassroots is needed to identify problems and take corrective measures.
Source:  WaterAid