India’s economy is currently one of the fastest-growing in the world. On every platform, there are claims of technical improvement, infrastructure growth, and economic progress.
Beneath this optimistic exterior, however, comes a brutal reality: drinking water, the most vital component of human life, is becoming increasingly scarce and of declining quality.
In terms of clean and safe drinking water, it is paradoxical that a nation that has promised to go to higher levels of development is falling to the bottom of the world rankings.
The nation was stunned when a number of individuals in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, died suddenly from drinking water contamination. A typhoid outbreak in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, brought on by tainted water soon raised concerns.
The drinking water situation is still a major and concerning issue nationwide, not just in one or two areas. The World Population Review’s 2025 Clean Water Rankings place India at position 138 out of 172 nations. Since 2013, the quality of the nation’s drinking water has been gradually deteriorating. The so-called development model has emerged as the largest obstacle to clean living due to population growth.
Sewage, industrial and chemical waste, and medical waste are being dumped untreated into rivers and other water sources. Urban populations, industry, and agriculture are overusing traditional water sources. Consequently, those same sources get the discharge of contaminated water. Nothing less than mass suicide is happening here. Once-bright rivers have turned into filthy drains.
During the summer, rivers that were once hubs of cultural identity and religious belief become dilapidated. The cities and villages along the banks of these same rivers get their drinking water from them.
In their attempts to purify tainted water, humans are growing weaker and will eventually perish. It is now known that local and small rivers serve as storm drains.
Legal documents are now the only place to find laws like the Waste Management Act of 1969 and the Water Pollution Control and Prevention Act of 1974. There is some sort of pollution in around 70% of the nation’s water.
According to a World Health Organization research, India’s fifth-leading source of infectious diseases is contaminated water. Every year, over 200,000 adults pass away from illnesses brought on by tainted water, while almost 500,000 children die from diarrhea alone.
Every day, the roughly 600,000 people who live in the nation struggle to get water. It does not matter how good the water is; they have to use and drink whatever is available.
A research from the International Center for Sustainability predicts that by 2030, India’s water use would quadruple. Even though it is home to over 17% of the world’s population, India now only has 4% of the world’s fresh aquatic resources.
Unplanned urbanization, population growth, and encroachment on water infrastructure all point to a major threat to the future. Regretfully, responsible institutions restrict themselves to surface-level solutions rather than engaging in serious and sincere study on this matter.
The goal of ambitious programs like Namami Gange was to create a pollution-free Ganga and its tributaries, but the intended outcomes have yet to materialize. River conservation received a lot of attention during the 2017 River Day celebration in New Delhi, but eight years later, there has been little discernible action.
The Betwa-Ken Link, the biggest river connecting project in the nation, is another concerning example. Last summer, the Betwa’s source in the Raisen area of Madhya Pradesh dried up, but the river was able to live by feeding on industrial and urban garbage.
The condition of the river and the future of the Ken-Betwa Link worried the public, but monsoon rains brought it back to life once the relevant parties took action.
Uncontrolled construction and the loss of five hundred acres of nearby forests, however, have actually made the situation worse. The Betwa and Ken’s future union is still unknown in these conditions.
Due to irresponsible deforestation and excavation, mountain and forest rivers have already vanished. The central government started programs to provide metropolitan areas with clean drinking water. Their goal was to manage wastewater in order to provide safe drinking water.
However, due to their own limitations and convenience, local municipal organizations carried out these programs. The killings in Indore’s Bhagirathpura neighborhood, where a drinking water conduit was installed beneath a drain, serve as a horrifying illustration. People had to consume tainted water for extended periods of time as a result of leaks in the subpar pipeline.
The Jal Jeevan Mission established a household tap water program in rural regions of the nation, mostly using subterranean water sources. This plan, however, did not give water quality testing enough consideration. Many locations use dry or low-yielding tube wells to supply water.
Hazardous substances and germs, including nitrate, fluoride, arsenic, iron, chloride, and E. coli, are present wherever water is available. The Jal Jeevan Assessment study states that in Madhya Pradesh alone, 36.7% of rural drinking water samples had terrible quality.
Almost one-third of the nation’s water supply does not adhere to drinking water regulations. Even in residential colonies built by the government and private sectors, required water testing is not in place, which has led to residents unintentionally drinking tainted water.
Several instances of this have surfaced in cities such as Ahmedabad, Delhi, Ghaziabad, and Noida. The government and commercial organizations have frequently avoided assuming accountability for providing safe drinking water, despite the fact that it is a component of the right to life. The government is likewise unable to take negligence seriously as there are no severe penalties for it.
Accountability, practical and quality-based scheme execution, pollution-free water supplies, and honest self-reflection are all necessary today. All development claims will be submerged in contaminated water if prompt action is not taken.
