Water Quality Issues in India:Geological, Historical and Modern Perspectives

Gina Accorsi, Lee Corbett, Sophie Greene, and Ben RukavinaOctober 15, 2014

Geological context:Pollution from

geologic sources

Historical context:India’s history, religion,

and water law

Modern context:Poor sanitation and malnutrition,

Water financing

The Future:What happens next?

Who pays for it?

?

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vc4D2tu5f9I/Tk8_ZEJ1hWI/AAAAAAAAA2A/-cCH1i9OI7E/s1600/Map_of_India_Bengal.png

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyevjRiz1UI

The Great Baths of Mohenjo Daro~3,700 BP, served at least 35,000 residents from the Stone age to Bronze Age

The ArthashastraAncient Indian treatus on economic, military, and land policy, written in Sanscrit, from around 300 BC

The Last Mughal EmperorBahadur Shah Zafar II (1775 – 1862), in power during the fall of the Mughal Empire (1526-1857) to Great Brittan, and the ancient Mughal water gardens.

Sutlej Valley, 1857Painting from “Results of a scientific mission to India and high Asia - Atlas Part II,” and a colonial era canal in India.

The World Bank

“When the private sector engages in water provision, greater disparities in access and cost follow.” –Al Jazeera

“The [new World Bank] draft policies provide an opt-out option for governments that do not wish to provide essential land and natural resource rights protections to Indigenous Peoples.”

- The Times India

Childhood Malnutrition: The Problem

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/SOUTHASIAEXT/Resources/223546-1147272668285/IndiaUndernourishedChildrenFinal.pdf

Childhood Malnutrition: The Problem

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/SOUTHASIAEXT/Resources/223546-1147272668285/IndiaUndernourishedChildrenFinal.pdf

Childhood Malnutrition: Comparisons

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/SOUTHASIAEXT/Resources/223546-1147272668285/IndiaUndernourishedChildrenFinal.pdf

Childhood Malnutrition: Consequences

DALY = Disability-adjusted life year

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/SOUTHASIAEXT/Resources/223546-1147272668285/IndiaUndernourishedChildrenFinal.pdf

Childhood Malnutrition: Forecasts

MDG = Millennium Development Goals

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/SOUTHASIAEXT/Resources/223546-1147272668285/IndiaUndernourishedChildrenFinal.pdf

Childhood Malnutrition: Forecasts

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/SOUTHASIAEXT/Resources/223546-1147272668285/IndiaUndernourishedChildrenFinal.pdf

Video LinksCNN video about water quality, the “daily struggle” (3:10):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEyxW73F5Fc

Financial Times video about polluted rivers (4:54):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeNSOg5XJh4

Overview video about Arsenic in groundwater in Bangladesh (10:18):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyevjRiz1UI

New York Times slideshow of India water pollution issues:http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/15/world/asia/poor-sanitation-in-india-may-afflict-well-fed-children-with-malnutrition.html#slideshow/100000002994895/100000002994980

Responsibility of various agencies in drinking water

supply

http://www.nistads.res.in/indiasnt2008/t6rural/t6rur7.htm

Percent distribution of rural households by collection time and person who collects the drinking water.

National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 2005-06

National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 2005-06

Percent distribution of rural households by collection time and person who collects the drinking water.

Percentage of affected habitations chemical contamination

Drinking water quality in rural India: Issues and Approaches Indira Khurana and Romit Sen, Water Aid, 2008.

State wise Cases Due to Cholera in India 2007 and Acute Diarrhoeal Disease in 2006

National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 2005-06

Percent distribution of rural households by treatment of drinking water in 1998-99 and 2005-06 respectively

National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 2005-06

Schematic representation of areas which requiretechnological intervention

http://www.nistads.res.in/indiasnt2008/t6rural/t6rur7.htm

Locations of Desalination plantsBhabha Atomic Research Centre

References From Ben• http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/aug/14/brics-development-

bank-imf-world-bank-dollar• https://www.opendemocracy.net/files/14-12-11%20Lakhimpur-AASU

%20protest%20against%20NHPC%20Big%20Dam.jpg• http://www.channelstv.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/World-Bank.jpg• http://www.kval.com/news/local/125824458.html• http://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jul/29/india.randeepramesh2• http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/4/water-

managementprivatizationworldbankgroupifc.html• http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/World-Bank-accused-of-

ignoring-rights-of-the-poor/articleshow/39299074.cms• http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/gallery/2012/mar/14/

controversial-dam-projects-in-pictures• http://www.worldbank.org/en/about• https://www.culturalsurvival.org/ourpublications/csq/article/displacement-

and-development-construction-sardar-dam