NEED URGENT SOLUTION FOR WATER POLLUTION

                                                                                             - By Milan K Sinha

Monsoon is still on in many parts of our country with consequent deteriorating flood situation usually in states like UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam & Orissa, to name a few. It's an open fact that the water management has not been the priority of the Govt. at least in reality. May be on paper , it is shown to be high on its agenda and huge money allocated & spent too.

If  you could visit even  few parts of the country in monsoon season to know the ground realities of  our water management system, you would appreciate the gigantic problem of not only wastage  but also pollution of water in large scale. The pathetic state of  huge population suffering from water borne diseases are seen to be believed particularly in rural areas.

Before proceeding further, we may go through some facts related to water pollution: 

• The poor & BPL families are the worst hit of water pollution. These sections of Indian Society,which comprises 40% of our population i.e, nearly 500 million people,  have to use unclean & unsafe water. As such, various water borne diseases affect them most resulting in large number of deaths every year.
• In India, an estimated  21% of communicable diseases*  are related to unclean/unsafe water.
• Water borne diseases, Diarrhoea, Cholera, Malaria, Japanese Encephalitis & Filariasis,  cause more than 18 lac deaths annually.
• Water related ailments contribute more than 80% of total deaths due to various diseases.
• Most of our rivers including Ganga & Yamuna  are very polluted as sewage, trash,food,animal remains & industrial wastes containing toxic chemicals are dumped in large quantities. 
• Oxygen content in water is depleting very fast.
• Due to ground water contamination as a result of interaction between ground water & unclean surface water, situation has become further grave.

Interestingly, the overall cost of making provision of clean drinkable water to one & all in the country is lesser than the multiple heath related benefits.

The above list is indicative of the growing menace of water pollution and its disastrous impact on a very large population of the country. This naturally demands urgent corrective measures by all concerned in an integrated & concerted manner. Because:

गंभीर समस्या है प्रभावी जल प्रबंधन 

साथ में  बढ़ता जल प्रदूषण 

जब तक नहीं निकलेगा इनका हल 

कैसे बेहतर होगा हम सबका कल 

* Sanitation & Hygiene issues will be discussed in a separate post

                                    Will meet again with Open Mind. All the Best.

* Do visit my site : http://www.milanksinha.com/