Safe Drinking Water – A Human Right and the Responsibility of Local Governance

Introduction

As Thiruvalluvar stated, “The world cannot exist without water,” water is an essential natural resource for human life. Drinking water is a fundamental requirement for human health and social well-being. However, in modern times, due to urbanization, population growth, and poor water resource management, providing safe drinking water has become a major challenge.

1. Water Management in Ancient Times

In ancient Indian society, people lived in harmony with nature.

During that period:
Every house had its own well.
In villages, public water sources such as:
Ponds
Village tanks
Large public wells

provided water for all people.

Therefore, people did not depend entirely on government-supplied drinking water.

2. Modern Challenges

In the present day, several factors have created challenges in water management.

Major reasons include:
Population growth
Urbanization
Apartment-based housing systems
Over-extraction of groundwater

As a result, private well systems have declined.

People now depend mainly on:
Borewells
Drinking water supplied by local governments.

3. Drinking Water Contamination – A Major Problem

During the rainy season, several issues occur in drinking water:

Mud contamination
Chlorine smell
Poor-quality water

However, the most dangerous problem is:
Mixing of sewage water with drinking water.

Reasons for this include:
Breakage of underground pipelines
Poor maintenance
Damage caused during road digging works.

4. Health Impacts

Drinking water contaminated with sewage can cause serious health problems.

Common diseases include:
Diarrhea
Stomach pain
Jaundice
Various infectious diseases

In some cases, loss of life has also occurred.

5. Recent Incidents (Current Events)

In many parts of India, drinking water contamination has resulted in deaths and health problems.

Examples include:
Indore (Madhya Pradesh) – Several deaths reported
Sayanasa (Haryana) – Deaths including children
Sukobrishthi (West Bengal) – Health issues reported
Gandhinagar (Gujarat) – People affected

In Tamil Nadu:
Pallavaram, Chennai (2024) – Death due to drinking water contamination
Kamatchipuram, Dindigul – People affected due to poor-quality drinking water.

6. Administrative Responsibility and Solutions

Providing safe drinking water is a major responsibility of the government and local administration.

Necessary actions include:
Protection of water bodies
Cleaning overhead water storage tanks
Strong infrastructure for drinking water and sewage pipelines
Coordination between different departments

Departments that must work together include:
Local Administration
Electricity Department
Telecommunication Companies
Highways Department
Metro Rail Administration.

7. Drinking Water – A Fundamental Human Right

The Supreme Court of India in several judgments has stated that clean drinking water is part of Article 21 (Right to Life).

Additionally:
UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG-6)
→ Clean Water and Sanitation.

Therefore, providing safe drinking water is considered a basic human right.

Conclusion / Way Forward

Providing safe drinking water is a fundamental responsibility of the government to protect human life.

Only through protecting water resources, proper maintenance of pipeline systems, and administrative accountability can problems like drinking water contamination be prevented.

To protect human health and life, strengthening drinking water management has become the need of the hour.