- 884 million people, lack access to safe water supplies, approximately one in eight people.
- Each year, 3.575 million people die from water-related disease.
- 2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation, including 1.2 billion people who have no facilities at all.
- Every 15 seconds, a child dies from a water-related disease.
- Millions of women and children spend several hours a day collecting water from distant, often polluted sources.
- At any given time, half of the world's hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from a water-related disease.
Water Crisis in India
India’s huge and growing population is putting a severe strain on all of the country’s natural resources. Most water sources are contaminated by sewage and agricultural runoff. India has made progress in the supply of safe water to its people, but gross disparity in coverage exists across the country. Although access to drinking water has improved, the World Bank estimates that 21% of communicable diseases in India are related to unsafe water. In India, diarrhea alone causes more than 1,600 deaths daily—the same as if eight 200-person jumbo-jets crashed to the ground each day. Hygiene practices also continue to be a problem in India. Latrine usage is extremely poor in rural areas of the country; only 14% of the rural population has access to a latrine. Hand washing is also very low, increasing the spread of disease. In order to decrease the amount of disease spread through drinking-water, latrine usage and hygiene must be improved simultaneously.
I find these facts so hard to digest. And I guess that in itself should make me feel grateful about the kind of life I and the people around me life.
I am grateful for the 24x7 water supply I get.
For more facts visit - http://water.org/waterpartners.aspx?pgID=916
4 comments:
You know, one rarely hears someone talking about such issues.
Good to see that you are trying to make a difference.
Keep it up!!!
:) In school I use to fight about environmental issues. A lot of that has disappeared unfortunately. Hehe partly because I am such a huge fan of Michael Crichton and read 'The Perfect Storm' and wasn't sure anymore.
But ya water is a huge issue. Only 1% of water on the planet being suitable for human consumption is a scary thought. And while I am all for conservation efforts, I think more research and technology has to be discovered and invented to figure how we can use some percentage of the other 75% off that covers the Earths surface.
yea, its sad that ppl who have easy access to water, they just take it for granted and waste it merrily ... they dont realize the pains that others who arent so lucky have to bear to get some water.
Yup and even when we know, it's difficult to remember it all the time.
I can't even begin to imagine walking for hours EVERYDAY just to get some water for regular use.
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