As India marks World Water Day, clean and safe water still a challenge in country
Published : Mar 22, 2017, 12:41 pm IST
Updated : Jul 8, 2017, 8:39 pm IST
Government records show that in 1980, just 1% of India’s rural areas had access to safe, usable water.
By 2013, that had increased to 30%, but the majority of rural India continues to live without proper access to safe drinking water.
A WaterAid report in 2016 ranked India among the worst countries in the world for the number of people without safe water.
An estimated 76 million people in India have no access to a safe water supply, and the situation is only getting more serious.
Almost 19,000 villages across the country still do not receive regular water supply.
Safe drinking water, a basic amenity has become a luxury in many Indian households, especially in semi-urban and rural areas.
Official figures show that each day, approximately 500 million litres of wastewater from industrial sources is dumped into the Ganga.
Several initiatives by government and non-government bodies have been undertaken to deal with the water crisis looming ahead of India.
The Asian Development Bank has forecast that by 2030, India will have a water deficit of 50 per cent.