Drinking Water Paradox |
I still remember my first visit to the United States in 1997. I was accommodated at the International House, or I-house, at the University of Chicago, feeling tired after a long journey and eager to settle in. My first question to the hostel guide was where I could find drinking water. He looked somewhat confused at first. He then pointed towards the kitchen sink and, staring at me, said, “From the tap in the kitchen. We all drink tap water.” With hesitation, years of conditioning kicked in when I asked this question, as back in India, we boil it, filter it, and sometimes buy it. Sensing my doubt, he reassured me again: this was government-supplied water, treated, monitored, safe. People drank it without a second thought. Nearly three decades later, that moment still lingers. Not because American tap water was extraordinary, but because our country’s tap water so often is not.
The recent water contamination tragedy in Bhagirathpura, Indore, is a brutal reminder. Nearly a dozen people are reported to have died, and hundreds fell ill after consuming contaminated water. Diarrhoea, vomiting, dehydration, and avoidable deaths have occurred. Sad incidents that should never happen in any city, especially one that prides itself on cleanliness and good governance. The Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court rightly called the incident a “public health emergency,” stressing that access to clean drinking water is part of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution. The court summoned the chief secretary, held senior officials accountable, and ordered urgent steps such as supplying safe water, setting up health camps, repairing pipelines, testing water samples and planning long-term water safety measures. But Indore is not an exception. It has exposed a wider and deeper problem.
Let us ask a simple question. How many of our neighbourhood families drink or we do drink water directly from the tap? The honest answer is: the majority of us will say no. Instead, India runs a parallel water economy. Bottled mineral water, RO purifiers, UV filters, community filtration plants. Every restaurant, railway station, airport,........