How to fix India's water woes—and why that's good for economics
With so many Indians struggling with access to water in the first place, not enough thought has been put into making sure that water is safe to drink. Unsafe water isn't just dirty, it's deadly—for health as well as for livelihoods
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In 2018, the Primary Healthcare Centre in Gujarat’s Math Village, Kodinar, noticed a severe spike in viral fever among villagers during the monsoon. The community decided to get the water tested and found high levels of bacteria; the local water storage tanks were contaminated and needed cleaning.
Unsafe drinking water isn't just dirty—it’s deadly. The health burden of poor water quality is enormous. It is estimated that around 37.7 million Indians are affected by waterborne diseases annually; 1.5 million children are estimated to die of diarrhoea alone and 73 million working days are lost due to waterborne disease each year. The resulting economic burden is estimated at $600 million per year.
Improved water supply has the following economic impact:
- Better health: Healthy people live more productive lives
- Time management: Time and effort spent collecting water can be reduced, and this time can be allocated to other income-generating activities
- Expenditure saving: Improved water supply means less money is spent on buying water from vendors and on the treatment of illness.
- Food security and nutrition: Backyard irrigation or keeping livestock becomes easier. Whilst home-based production may be small, it provides a nutritious and secure form of food.
What needs to be done?
Community participation in water management and surveillance is exactly what Math Village undertook to turn their water situation around. They worked hand-in-hand with a corporate foundation, and undertook a three-phase approach, educating themselves about the importance of regular water quality testing and understanding the steps necessary to treat and manage the water. By empowering themselves and learning the skills to address water quality issues, the problem was solved sustainably.
The provision of clean drinking water has been given priority in the Constitution of India, with Article 47 conferring the duty of providing clean drinking water and improving public health standards to the State. The Government of India’s flagship program, Jal Jivan Mission (JJM) has given priority to motivating local panchayats and community groups for community water quality surveillance.
Community awareness on water quality aspects is therefore paramount. Many water quality problems are caused due to communities being unaware of the different aspects of managing and maintaining the quality of water resources.
The writer is a CEO of Ambuja Cement Foundation