50 million people in 15 cities have no access to safe, affordable drinking water
In urban India, 50 million people in 15 cities have no access to safe, affordable drinking water, reveals a UNICEF India report.
Healthy drinking water is very important for good health. Safe water supply ensures the health of a country, yet it is woefully under-prioritised, globally. And in India, it’s at the lowest echelon.
A recent report by UNICEF India has revealed that 50 million people from 15 Indian cities lack access to safe and affordable drinking water. Clean drinking water is extremely important for the health of populations and it assumes even more importance in the times of Covid-19 when hydration works as an important factor in helping the body fight the SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Drinking water comes from a variety of sources including public water systems, private wells, or bottled water. However, in urban India, the majority of the population resides in private households wherein privately owned and operated sources of drinking water, such as wells, cisterns, and springs are available. But people hardly know how the water they consume reaches them. How it is contaminated during the treatment and supply stages etc.
At the same time, access to treated piped water continues to be inadequate for the majority of the population. Water from major sources like tube wells and hand pumps is also found to be unsafe as they are known to be carriers of waterborne diseases. While people blame unhygienic food for most of the ailments, waterborne diseases such as cholera, acute diarrhoeal diseases, typhoid, and viral hepatitis have caused 10,738 deaths, over the last five years since 2017. Of this, acute diarrhoeal diseases have caused maximum deaths followed by viral hepatitis, typhoid, and cholera.
