Lack of access to safe water is a burgeoning crisis

[00:00:00] Today's drink is very good. The water is very good and the water is very good.

[00:00:10] So, we can see the difference in the amount of water that is very good.

[00:00:18] We have to drink more water. And we have to drink so much water.

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[00:00:28] Hello and welcome to All Indians Matter, I am Ashraf Engineer.

[00:00:31] About a month ago the Mexico City Administration which oversees the sprawling metropolis of 22

[00:00:36] million people warned that it was facing a severe water crisis.

[00:00:41] Be it on unplanned urban development, crumbling infrastructure and climate change, the erratic

[00:00:45] rainfall and rising temperatures had stressed a water system that was already straining

[00:00:50] to cope with the demand.

[00:00:51] As a result severe water cuts were imposed and many localities went without water for

[00:00:56] weeks at a time when the rainy season was months away.

[00:01:00] It was estimated that the city would run dry of all water in a couple of months.

[00:01:04] If this sounds familiar, it's because a similar situation is playing itself out with uncomfortable

[00:01:09] regularity across India.

[00:01:11] In Mumbai for example, water cuts have been enforced as sources are running low.

[00:01:16] In India, drinking water is the greatest concern with only 2% of households getting drinkable

[00:01:21] quality water and 65% using some kind of modern filtration mechanism according to a survey

[00:01:27] by local circles, a community social media platform.

[00:01:31] About 5% said the quality of pipe water supplied by the civic body or panchayat was quote

[00:01:36] unquote very poor and 15% said it was poor.

[00:01:40] Even worse 5% said they don't get pipe water at all.

[00:01:44] At 1.3 billion citizens expected to grow to 1.7 billion by 2050, India is finding that

[00:01:50] it is unable to supply its people with safe water.

[00:01:59] All Indians matter

[00:02:06] India has 16% of the world's population crammed into a land mass that's one third

[00:02:11] the size of the US.

[00:02:13] This was India has only 4% of the world's fresh water.

[00:02:17] So you see the scale of the crisis we are facing.

[00:02:19] How do Indians purify water at home for drinking or cooking?

[00:02:23] About 34% use a purifier, 31% an RO system, 1% use chlorination, alem and other minerals,

[00:02:30] 14% boil the water and 5% use clay vessels.

[00:02:34] About 7% of households get bottled water from the local circles survey.

[00:02:39] This underscores the need for mandatory purity standards for portable water that must

[00:02:43] be enforced at all administration levels.

[00:02:47] About 37.7 million Indians suffer from water bond diseases every year, 1.5 million children

[00:02:53] die of diarrhea alone and 73 million working days are lost due to such diseases according

[00:02:59] to a study published in the BMC Public Health Journal.

[00:03:02] According to Water.org, a global civil society organization more than 6% of Indians lack

[00:03:08] any access to safe water.

[00:03:10] A UNICEF report based on 2017 government data said that only 50% of Indians have access

[00:03:16] to safe drinking water that is free from chemical contamination or dangerous levels of toxins.

[00:03:22] Consider this.

[00:03:23] Safe drinking water for households across India would award 400,000 deaths caused by

[00:03:28] diarrhea diseases and prevent approximately 14 million disability adjusted life years.

[00:03:34] This would mean cost savings of up to 101 billion dollars estimates the World Health

[00:03:39] Organization or WHO.

[00:03:41] WHO points to the amount of time and effort that women would save if they were provided

[00:03:45] tap water.

[00:03:46] In 2018, women in India spent 45.5 minutes every day collecting water for their households.

[00:03:53] Collectively, homes without water connections spend 66.6 million hours each day collecting

[00:03:59] water.

[00:04:01] India of course is not the only nation facing such a problem but given our size and

[00:04:05] the stakes involved perhaps nowhere else is action more required.

[00:04:09] There is a conspicuous lack of regulation coupled with neglect and rampant corruption

[00:04:13] all of which have led to millions being left thirsty.

[00:04:16] This is manifesting itself also in the form of interstate disputes over access to

[00:04:20] river water.

[00:04:21] Sometimes they are also escalated to inter-country disputes such as between India and Pakistan

[00:04:26] over the water of the india's river and with China over the brama putra.

[00:04:30] We all know that most of the surface water in India is polluted by the larger problem lies

[00:04:35] below the surface.

[00:04:37] Groundwater levels are falling and that too is not always safe.

[00:04:41] In India it's a free for all when it comes to groundwater.

[00:04:44] India's groundwater use is at roughly 1 quarter of the global usage with the total surpassing

[00:04:48] that of China and the US combined.

[00:04:51] Farmers get free power or power subsidies which means they pump up groundwater indiscriminately.

[00:04:56] For the result the water table has dropped a staggering 4 meters in some areas.

[00:05:01] This means that irrigation is affected too and there is an over reliance on the monsoon.

[00:05:06] Here are a few world bank statistics that should give us pause.

[00:05:09] 163 million Indians lack access to safe drinking water.

[00:05:14] 210 million lack access to improved sanitation.

[00:05:17] 21% of communicable diseases are linked to unsafe water.

[00:05:22] 100 children under the age of 5 die from diarrhea every day in India.

[00:05:27] More than half of our rivers are highly polluted with numerous others at levels considered

[00:05:31] unsafe.

[00:05:32] The Yamuna, Ganga and Sabar Mati are the dirtiest.

[00:05:36] Aside from industrial waste is open use for rivers across India.

[00:05:40] From dumping human waste to bathing to washing clothes they are used for a variety of tasks.

[00:05:45] As I said there is an over reliance on the rain which can be untripped and it doesn't

[00:05:49] always make an appearance where it is needed the most.

[00:05:52] As a result there are the extremes of drought and flooding that have a multiplier effect

[00:05:56] in the form of crop failures and farmer suicides.

[00:05:59] And the poor as always are the most affected.

[00:06:03] All of this has a wide economic impact.

[00:06:05] In many instances the decline in the number of manufacturing jobs can be attributed to

[00:06:10] lack of access to clean water.

[00:06:12] The good news is that the waters of the Ganga and Jambal rivers are by and large clean

[00:06:16] and many projects have been taken up to transport water to areas that needed the most.

[00:06:21] However what's needed is a long-term government commitment to improve water supply and quality

[00:06:26] across the country.

[00:06:28] Teaching farmers modern techniques such as drip irrigation and rainwater harvesting could

[00:06:32] slow the damage to fresh water sources.

[00:06:34] India also needs modern sanitation practices that utilize water carefully.

[00:06:39] What's clear is that a crisis of this size cannot be solved through stop cap solutions.

[00:06:44] The task before the country may be daunting but it is quite literally life or death.

[00:06:49] Thankfully they may still be time.

[00:07:14] Well, I am D.I.N.S.C.O.U.N.T.

[00:07:17] Search for the All Indians Matter page on Facebook.

[00:07:19] On Instagram the handle is All Indians Matter email me at editor at all Indians matter.in.

[00:07:25] Catch you again soon.