Treatment and Purification

Art of Living responsible for destroying the Yamuna floodplains: NGT

A seasonal river in Pali, Rajasthan, the Bandi is nothing short of a sewer. The textile town has witnessed rampant industrial growth, raw sewage discharges and toxic contamination of its waters. The river, which is devoid of lean season flow, is polluted up to 55 km downstream. The river water is unfit for drinking as well as irrigation.

“Sometimes I go for open defecation, sometimes I use the toilet. It’s not like I always have to use the toilet. When I go for work here and there, I defecate in the jungle,” says Renu from one of the remote villages in Tehri Garwal district of Uttarakhand when asked why she does not use latrines every day.

Urmila Devi lives in Chaitabazaar village which is barely five kilometres from the eastern bank of the Burhi Gandak river. It is located in a particularly flood-prone area of East Champaran in north Bihar. The drinking water quality in this area is poor. The recurrent floods only make it worse.

Concerned with contaminated water sources in rural areas, the Centre plans to provide piped water supply (classified as an improved water source by the W

The theme for the Conclave this year is “Water Use Efficiency: An Imperative for India” to highlight the imperative of water use efficiency in the industry, agriculture and urban contexts. 

In India, most families depend on borewell or well water. Most cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, etc get well or borewell water for drinking. Borewell water is usually safe to drink but it is not 100 percent pure because of its hardness and contamination level.

Solawata, a small village in Jaipur district is barely 10 kilometers away from Sambhar, India's largest saline lake which is a major centre of salt production that produces about two lakh tonnes of salt a year. On our way to the village from Sambhar, we see caravans packed with bright coloured camel saddles parked on the road.

In India, fresh water is depleting fast with the rise in consumption for economic activities. Poor management of water resources has led to overexploitation of groundwater. The World Resources Institute’s March 2016 report said 54 percent of India was water stressed, with scarcity affecting every part of the country except the Himalayan region and the ghats.

Heavy metal poisoning is a growing concern in many parts of the country. A new method for removing chromium-6, a highly toxic heavy metal, from waste water has been developed by a group of scientists from India and Ethiopia. They claim it to be low-cost and safe.