Water water every where not a drop to drink
As of 2003, it was estimated that only 27% of India's wastewater was being treated, with the remainder flowing into rivers, canals, groundwater or the sea. The lack of toilet facilities in many areas also presents a major health risk.
IN THE April 2010 issue of the world-wide National Geographic magazine, the Editor Chris Johns has very rightly said that “as a chemical compound, nothing could be simpler than water: two atoms of hydrogen joined to one of oxygen.
There are three main sources of water supply. These are Groundwater, Surface water, and Desalination. Groundwater comes from wells and boring pumps. Surface water comes from lakes, rivers, and reservoirs. In age old metropolitan cities all over the world, it is quite often that leakages occur in water pipes, and sometimes these pipes get intermixed with sewage pipes that make water highly contaminated. According to the 2008 UNICEF Report, improved water sources now serve 87 percent of the world population, 1.6 billion more people than in 1990. The condition is becoming worse and worse day by day. Besides what we have said above, recreation also commands a growing share of water use in terms of swimming pools etc. There is another difficulty with respect to the supply source of water. It is linked with the glaciers in the high lands that feed many rivers. But it is disheartening that now the ice and snow are diminishing, and gradually this basic source of water supply would get lost. It is said that full scale glacier shrinkage is inevitable. It will lead to ecological catastrophe. Let us briefly see the situation of water supply in India:We know that uses of water include agricultural, industrial, household, recreational and environmental activities. Virtually all of these human uses require fresh water. According to Wikipedia, “Water supply and sanitation in India continue to be inadequate, despite longstanding efforts by the various levels of government and communities at improving coverage. The situation is particularly inadequate for sanitation, since only one of three Indians has access to improved sanitation facilities (including improved latrines). While the share of those with access to an improved water source is much higher (86%), the quality of service is poor. Most users that are counted as having access receive water of dubious quality and only on an intermittent basis. No large city in India has full-day water supply and most cities supply water only a few hours a day. As of 2003, it was estimated that only 27% of India's wastewater was being treated, with the remainder flowing into rivers, canals, groundwater or the sea. The lack of toilet facilities in many areas also presents a major health risk; open defection is widespread even in urban areas of India, and it was estimated in 2002 by the WHO that around 700,000 Indians die each year from diarrhea 665 million Indians still defecate in open. Although the level of investment in water and sanitation is relatively high, yet the local government institutions in charge of operating and maintaining the infrastructure are weak and lack the financial resources to carry out their functions, partly due to very low tariff levels. A number of innovative approaches to improve water supply and sanitation have been tested in India, in particular in the early 2000s. These include demand-driven approaches in rural water supply since 1999, community-led total sanitation, public-private partnerships to improve the continuity of urban water supply in Karnataka, and the use of micro-credit to women in order to improve access to water. One of the most important ways to save water and increase the ground level of water, we must adhere to rain water harvesting. The state of Rajasthan follows this prescription, but the other states don’t. Although water blesses our live, yet it is gradually disappearing. Hence, we have to give up on the myth of Earth’s infinite generosity.
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