India has a diverse geography that is one third the size of United States and even more diverse population that is three times its size. Though significant steps have been taken yet 52% of rural and urban poor are estimated to be living in poverty.
The country having second largest population in the world face many challenges in providing its citizens with clean drinking water. On one hand, rapid growth in urban areas have stretched municipal drinking water systems to limits and on the other hand rural areas have been left out due to lack of funds. The situation is expected to worsen by the year 2050 as the population is expected reach 1.6 billion by then.
In summer, cities and towns in India regularly run out water due to lack or infrastructure to deliver piped water. Rural areas are also badly affected due to erratic rains.
Hard Facts :
• India is among the worst countries in the world for the number of people without safe drinking water.
• 21% of diseases faced today are water-related that installs an extra cost on health budget.
• 100 million homes in the country lack water.
• 600 million people facing acute water shortage.
• Crisis is going to get worse in the years ahead.
• 21 cities are likely to run out of groundwater by 2020.
• 80% of water is used in agriculture, so food security is also questioned.
• According to a NITI Ayog report around 200,000 Indians die every year because they have no access to clean water.
• Huge population has to rely on private water suppliers or tankers recurring an additional burden to their already strained finances.
• Winding queues waiting to collect water from tankers or public taps is a common sight in Indian slums.
• The Union Ministry of Water Resources has estimated the country’s current water requirement is around 1100 billion cubic metres per year
• It is estimated that demand will be twice the supply by 2030.
• Rampant pollution, dumping of sewage waste and abuse have made large sections of important rivers like Ganga and Yamuna unfit for use.
• 500 million litres of wastewater from industrial sources is dumped in the Ganga everyday.
• 850 million gallons of sewage flows in the Yamuna everyday from Delhi alone.

At AAS Ashram we feel that cleaning up rivers is not the only solution.We should also look managing rainwater to replenish groundwater. Experts from the field are consulted and their suggestions are tried to be implemented with support of local volunteers and partner organisations. Continuous efforts by the Government and other non-government organisations have helped to improve situation but a lot remains to be done.
Be a part of this effort…