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UNICEF REPORT: Water Situation in India- Situation and Prospects

A UN Report has described India's water pollution situation as a time bomb. India is able to treat just 10% of its city sewage and industrial waste discharge that is the most polluting source for rivers and water bodies.

The untreated water is discharged into water bodies due to this pollutants enter rivers, lakes and the ground water. The drinking water that ultimately ends in the households is often highly contaminated and carries disease-causing microbes. The victims are mostly children. Government studies have shown that a major cause of under- five mortality was water –borne diseases.

The water source over half of the Indians living in two major river basins-Ganga and Brahmaputra was highly contaminated. An evidence of that was rising number of arsenic affected areas in Bihar and West Bengal despite the government spending crores .Situation in rich agriculture areas of India's wheat bowl –Haryana and Punjab is no better with high pesticide contamination.

The report says that the agencies responsible for checking industrial pollution have failed. Pollution contributes to water scarcity by contaminating freshwater resources.

The report highlighted the example of Ralegan Siddhi where employing certain management principles have improved water situation and checked contamination.

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