Kiran Kumar Sen

Globally, over 3 billion people are at risk of disease because the water quality (WQ) of their rivers, lakes and groundwater is unknown, due to a lack of data.

Our drinking water is fraught with quality issues like chemicals, microplastics, excessive minerals, bacteria, and other contaminants, which tend to be local in nature, and require mitigation action at the local level. Frontline workers in these localities require an understanding of how to assess the local water quality and what steps to take to address issues that are discovered in water.

The journey of the Water Quality Management (WQM) Course into a movement with over 1500 WaterQualityChampions’ (WQC) across the country is curious and exciting. The course is enabling participants into “Water Quality champions” that even the course creators did not anticipate. Hence, it demands a closer introspection - into what went behind.

If you travel to rural India, you can find wall paintings near bus stands or compound walls of schools or walls of a Panchayat office adorned with messages.

Covid-19 pandemic has unleashed multiple challenges in different geographies, especially for the vulnerable groups living in areas that already have existing issues of water and food security.