Overview of the Current Scenario of Community Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation in India

Abstract

One of the greatest failures of the last 50 years has been the failure to lay the foundation stones of public health in the developing world – environmental sanitation and water supply. It is a failure that today deprives hundreds of millions not only of health but of productivity. It is a failure that undermines the normal mental and physical growth of rising generations. It is a failure that pollutes fresh water resources with faecal matter and organic pollutants on a massive scale. It is a failure that condemns more than a billion people to live with a daily environmental crisis of squalor, smells and diseases. And it is a failure that holds back the development of people and of nations. Despite significant progress made in the economic and industrial development, the demographic and environmental health scenario in the country continues to be a cause of serious concern. Water and air pollution along with malnutrition and lack of sanitation is increasing the disease burden in the society. The existing health infrastructure is unable to cope with the same.

Chairman, Arsenic Task Force, Govt. of West Bengal; Member, Scientific Advisory Board and SEA Regional Coordinator, International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene (IFH), Geneva; Chairman, Science and Technology, Sulabh International Social Service Organization; Vice Chancellor, International Academy of Environmental Sanitation and Public Health (IAES&PH); Former Director, All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Govt. of India; Expert Member, National Ganga River Basin Authority (2009–2014), Govt. of India. Email: nathkj@hotmail.com