Reports reveal that 3.6 million people die each year from water-related diseases. The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns. Lack of sanitation is the world’s biggest cause of infection. Every 20 seconds, a child dies from a water-related disease. Diarrhea remains the second leading cause of death among children under five globally. Nearly one in five child deaths – about 1.5 million each year – is due to diarrhea. It kills more young children than AIDS, malaria, and measles combined. In the developing world, 24,000 children under the age of five die every day from preventable causes like diarrhea contracted from unclean water. All the above data and stats reveal the acute problem of sanitation and availability of drinking water.
The basis of life on Earth, water has utmost importance for the survival of any living being. With increases in population, the question of water availability and scarcity is being discussed among ordinary people and intellectuals alike. Clean drinking water and sanitation are very much interrelated. 1.1 billion people in the world lack a clean water supply, and 2.7 billion have no access to proper sanitation. Dirty water and a lack of basic sanitation are undermining efforts to end extreme poverty and disease in the world’s poorest countries. 4100 children die every day from severe diarrhea, which is caused by poor sanitation and hygiene. Women and girls in developing countries spend most of their days gathering water for their families, walking 3.5 miles on average each day to collect water. Girls often drop out of primary school because their schools lack separate toilets and easy access to safe water. According to UNICEF, 2.5 billion people – almost 50 percent of the developing world’s population – lack improved sanitation facilities, and over 884 million people still use unsafe drinking water sources. Inadequate access to safe water and sanitation services, coupled with poor hygiene practices, kills and sickens thousands of children every day, and leads to impoverishment and diminished opportunities for thousands more. Only 62 percent of the world’s population has access to improved sanitation – defined as a sanitation facility that ensures hygienic separation of human excreta from human contact.
Poor sanitation, water, and hygiene have many other serious repercussions. Children, particularly girls, are denied their right to education because their schools lack private and decent sanitation facilities. Women are forced to spend large parts of their day fetching water. Poor farmers and wage earners are less productive due to illness. Health systems are overwhelmed, and national economies suffer. Without WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene), sustainable development is impossible.
Reports reveal that 3.6 million people die each year from water-related diseases. The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns. Lack of sanitation is the world’s biggest cause of infection. Every 20 seconds, a child dies from a water-related disease. Diarrhea remains the second leading cause of death among children under five globally. Nearly one in five child deaths – about 1.5 million each year – is due to diarrhea. It kills more young children than AIDS, malaria, and measles combined. In the developing world, 24,000 children under the age of five die every day from preventable causes like diarrhea contracted from unclean water.
All the above data and stats reveal the acute problem of sanitation and availability of drinking water. Some questions which come to mind are whether water which is essential for human survival is available in sufficient proportions? Is water scarce? Or is water not scarce, but the real issue is about water management and sanitation?
The Holy Qur’an says that water is sent by Allah abundantly: “And We send down from the clouds water pouring forth abundantly,” (78:14) and in another place: “Allah is He Who created the heavens and the earth and sent down water from the clouds, then brought forth with it fruits as a sustenance for you, and He has made the ships subservient to you, that they might run their course in the sea by His command, and He has made the rivers subservient to you.” (14:32)
The Beneficent God who created man also arranged for his needs, and water being a fundamental necessity of life cannot be so scarce that it could pose a threat to human survival. The real issue is that of proper use, sanitation, and management of water resources. We take the example of India to illustrate this point: India is rich in water resources with an average annual rainfall of 1000 mm. This translates into water availability of ten thousand liters of water per person per day. India has 50 million hectares of irrigated land, and 100 millions hectares of non-irrigated land. The challenge is to irrigate the 100 million hectares of non-irrigated land and convert it to a future reservoir of food grains. India gets plenty of rainfall, but 83 percent of rainwater literally goes down the drain. Watershed development can arrest this water and supply it to non-irrigated land.
In the words of the famous engineer Arun Fidoria: “We do have enough water for our present and future needs. We just need to manage it properly.”
