Clean drinking water, sanitation and cleanliness are closely related to each other, says Javed Anis

Water, the most vital of our resources, is also essential to human rights. The pictures of Parra village in Palera block of Tikamgarh district of Madhya Pradesh show a serious picture of severe water crisis and cleanliness in our country. Nearly 600 families of this village, battling unprecedented water scarcity and are using the septic tank of toilets built under Swachh Bharat Mission to store drinking water.

In Ramnagar village, Majhgawah tehsil of Satna district the only water source is five km away and women are the first to be affected by it. According to the DB Post newspaper, women have to take water at least three times which translates into a 30 km walk — 15 km of which is with the burden of water. This naturally has an adverse effect on pregnant women. Most of the women either have had an abortion or have lost their child. Similarly, in Damoh districts village Tendukheda, people have to climb down approximately 25 feet below the earth’s surface for water.

A water crisis is emerging which is our own creation. Over the last few decades, due to exploitation of ground water in the world its level has fallen faster than expected. Moreover, due to lack of conservation, water bodies are continuously disappearing. There are no solid and sustainable plans to deal with this crisis. As always, the repercussions of this emergency-like situation are felt by the people of poor and backward areas. As 18.2 per cent population in rural areas is dependent on ponds and lakes which are getting dried and contaminated fast, their lives are affected. Similarly, for the slums in the urban areas and the large population living in small colonies, getting clean water is a problem. This is probably the reason that the root cause of 59 per cent health problems in the country is due to contaminated water. India is among the few countries where most children die from waterborne diseases like diarrhea.

According to the World Water Development Report 2018 released by the UNESCO, if the situation is not resolved on time, then by 2050, more than half of the world’s population will be facing a water crisis. According to this report, currently 27 per cent of the world’s population is battling a water problem. This, the UNESCO report says is due to lack of water or unavailability of clean water and the most affected will be the Asian countries, where more than 73 per cent of the population will face a serious water crisis.

At present, about 60 to 70 per cent of India’s population is suffering from a severe water shortage, according to the World Bank, about 16 crore Indians are deprived of clean drinking water. The situation will soon get out of control if we do not pay heed to the warning signs. The Center for Science and Environment (CSE) has warned that by 2030, nearly 21 of our cities will reach the ‘de zero’ status like that of Cape Town.

In fact, when it comes to water, the problem is three-fold. First, the groundwater is going down rapidly. Moreover, the system of water conservation is very weak. And what adds to the crisis is that marketing has made water a commodity. Today the water business is worth crore of rupees.

The solution to recover from this crisis is not in the privatisation of water as the crisis is multi-dimensional for which the society and the government will have to make efforts at several levels. Water harvesting to conserve rainwater in the ground as well as restoring lakes and wells is essential and necessary to be in harmony with nature.

Even in the case of cleanliness, the situation is fragile. Despite all the hype, the lack of cleanliness remains a major challenge. The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was launched by the current government in October 2014 on Gandhi Jayanti, under which, by 2019, the goal of creating a clean India was adopted. According to the United Nations Organisation, one billion people defecate openly in the world, out of which 60 per cent are in India.

The Sampoorna Svachchhta Abhiyaan Kaaryakram (Total Cleanliness Campaign Program) was started by the Government of India in 1999, whose basic purpose was to completely clean the rural India and to eliminate open defecation by 2012. The main reason for the failure of this programme was that it was assumed that if people are given access to the facilities, they would use it and the problem would be eliminated. But it did not take into account the people’s behaviour towards cleanliness. In the overall cleanliness campaign, emphasis on the participation and behavior of the Gram Panchayat and local people was emphasised. But this saw partial success. Even today, cleanliness in India remains a serious challenge.

The issue of garbage disposal is also related to cleanliness. Today due to the rising urbanisation, waste management has emerged as a major problem in developing countries like India. We have mountains of trash near our cities where the height and width keeps on increasing day by day. This garbage is a dangerous for both the health and the environment. Our technology of garbage disposal is old. We have not yet developed the understanding that garbage is a resource under which 90 per cent waste can be transformed into precious manure. Garbage disposal in developed countries has been established as a business with big profits as the waste of the city does not spread smells and diseases but is recycled into biogas, electricity and so on. Garbage collection and segregation which should be done by the administration is being done by children who end up contracting diseases such as cancer, asthma, tuberculosis and severe skin diseases.

As a society, we need to change our attitude towards cleanliness and people engaged in this work. The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 states that we “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”

Some of the targets of SDG 6 are mentioned below:

By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all
By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations
By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimising release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally
By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity
By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through trans-boundary cooperation as appropriate

a) By 2030, expand international cooperation and capacity-building support to developing countries in water and sanitation-related activities and programmes, including water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies

b) Support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management

Water and Sanitation are issues related to human rights and are not confined to government programmes and policies as the civil society also has an important role to play in sanitation and cleanliness. For sustainable solutions, in cleanliness and water management, the active participation of communities as well as the government is essential. It is only then that we will have clean drinking water, integrated water resources management and sustainable sanitation management for all of us.

—Charkha Features

The essentials of life