India behind Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka in "access" to clean water, says WaterAid, a Modi govt supporter

Data released by the London-based WaterAid, a high-profile international non-profit organization, which "supports" the Narendra Modi government's programmes like Swachh Bharat Mission and National Rural Drinking Water Programme, show that India is behind all its neighbours, including Pakistan and Bangladesh, in providing “basic access” to clean water.
Its new report, released on the occasion of World Water Day, which falls on Thursday, the report says that, as against India’s 87.5%, who have the basic access to water, Pakistan’s 88.5%, Nepal’s 87.7%, Sri Lanka’s 92.3%, China’s 95.8%, Bangladesh’s 97.3 and Bhutan’s 97.5% have such an access.

The top 10 countries with lowest access to
clean water close to home – by population

Ironically, despite such poor showing, the WaterAid report, titled “The water gap – The State of the World’s Water 2018”, seeks to present a rosy picture of India’s water situation, saying, “India in particular has made water access a major focus”. It adds, India (along with China) has shown “most striking results”, by reaching out to “the greatest number of people with water since 2000.”
In its support, the report provides the instance of one Hrudamajhi, 45, who lives in Kirejholla village in western Odisha, pointing out how the village’s previous open, dug wells were “contaminated with bacteria and had high levels of naturally-occurring fluoride, which at high concentrations causes skeletal damage.”
It adds, “WaterAid and local partners installed a small piped-water system from an improved well”, the report says, adding, as a result Hrudamajhi is happy that “swelling of feet and elbows has decreased.” Earlier, she “would not be able to sit on the ground or do household work for long hours, but now the situation has improved.”

Hrudamajhi

At the same time, the report provides the instance of one Kashi Ram, 50, who is shown carrying water from a nearby well to his house in Sheetal Pani village, Baiga Chak, Dindori, Madhya Pradesh.
The report provides what it calls “new data” for several countries that “links water access to household wealth” in order to show that, even in countries making progress, “there are still vast discrepancies between richest and poorest”, However, it avoids providing any such data for India.
Among other countries, the “new data” show that in Bangladesh 93.2% of the poorest people have clean water as against 98.9% of the richest people, and in Pakistan, “79.2% of the poorest people have clean water 98% of the richest people have clean water”.
Calling India “one of the world’s most-improved nations for reaching the most people with clean water”, the report, however, regrets, the country “faces challenges with falling groundwater levels, drought, demand from agriculture and industry, pollution and poor water resource management.”

Kashi Ram

Even as seeking to suggest that these challenges would “intensify as climate change contributes to more extreme weather shocks”, the report nevertheless says, in November last year, India “restructured its rural water programme with a goal to reach 90% of rural households with piped water by 2022.”
The report shows that, population-wise, India still has the largest population in the world with “no access” to clean water, 163 million, followed by Ethiopia’s 60.5 million, Nigeria’s 59.5 million, China’s 57.5 million, Democratic Republic of Congo 46.87 million, Indonesia’s 26.9 million, Tanzania’s 26.65 million, Uganda’s 23.84 million, Pakistan’s 21.64 million, and so on.
Pointing out that “more than 60% of humanity lives in areas of water stress, where the supply of water cannot or will not continue to meet demand”, the report says, “Some 844 million people are now struggling to access life’s most essential requirement – almost 200 million more than previously counted.”

Comments

Dalit rights and political tensions: Why is Mevani at odds with Congress leadership?

While I have known Jignesh Mevani, one of the dozen-odd Congress MLAs from Gujarat, ever since my Gandhinagar days—when he was a young activist aligned with well-known human rights lawyer Mukul Sinha’s organisation, Jan Sangharsh Manch—he became famous following the July 2016 Una Dalit atrocity, in which seven members of a family were brutally assaulted by self-proclaimed cow vigilantes while skinning a dead cow, a traditional occupation among Dalits.

Powering pollution, heating homes: Why are Delhi residents opposing incineration-based waste management

While going through the 50-odd-page report Burning Waste, Warming Cities? Waste-to-Energy (WTE) Incineration and Urban Heat in Delhi , authored by Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran of the well-known advocacy group Centre for Financial Accountability, I came across a reference to Sukhdev Vihar — a place where I lived for almost a decade before moving to Moscow in 1986 as the foreign correspondent of the daily Patriot and weekly Link .

Boeing 787 under scrutiny again after Ahmedabad crash: Whistleblower warnings resurface

A heart-wrenching tragedy has taken place in Ahmedabad. As widely reported, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane crashed shortly after taking off from the city’s airport, currently operated by India’s top tycoon, Gautam Adani. The aircraft was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members. As expected, the crash has led to an outpouring of grief across the country. At the same time, there have been demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the Civil Aviation Minister.

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Global NGO slams India for media clampdown during conflict, downplays Pakistan

A global civil rights group, Civicus has taken strong exception to how critical commentaries during the “recent conflict” with Pakistan were censored in India, with journalists getting “targeted”. I have no quarrel with the Civicus view, as the facts mentioned in it are all true.

Whither SCOPE? Twelve years on, Gujarat’s official English remains frozen in time

While writing my previous blog on how and why Narendra Modi went out of his way to promote English when he was Gujarat chief minister — despite opposition from people in the Sangh Parivar — I came across an interesting write-up by Aakar Patel, a well-known name among journalists and civil society circles.

Remembering Vijay Rupani: A quiet BJP leader who listened beyond party lines

Late evening on June 12, a senior sociologist of Indian origin, who lives in Vienna, asked me a pointed question: Of the 241 persons who died as a result of the devastating plane crash in Ahmedabad the other day, did I know anyone? I had no hesitation in telling her: former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, whom I described to her as "one of the more sensible persons in the BJP leadership."

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Why India’s renewable energy sector struggles under 2,735 compliance hurdles

Recently, during a conversation with an industry representative, I was told how easy it is to set up a startup in Singapore compared to India. This gentleman, who had recently visited Singapore, explained that one of the key reasons Indians living in the Southeast Asian nation prefer establishing startups there is because the government is “extremely supportive” when it comes to obtaining clearances. “They don’t want to shift operations to India due to the large number of bureaucratic hurdles,” he remarked.

Search This Blog