NEW DELHI: A report says India has the world's highest number of people without access to clean water.
The international charity Water Aid says 75.8 million Indians — or 5 percent of the country's 1.25 billion population — are forced to either buy water at high rates or use supplies that are contaminated with sewage or chemicals.
According to the report 'Water: At What Cost? The State of the World’s Water 2016', published by Water Aid, India tops the list of countries with the greatest numbers of people living without access to safe water. The report states that a total of 75,777,997 people in the country are without access to safe water.
"Poor management of water resources is the biggest problem holding India back from reaching all of its population with water supplies. Aquifers provide 85% of drinking water, but levels are falling in 56% of the country. Hand pumps are exacerbating the crisis in many areas by depleting shallow aquifers. Misappropriation in planning and execution of water supply projects is another key factor," the report mentions. Read the full report HERE.
That accounts for more than a tenth of the 650 million people worldwide without clean water access — more any single country in Africa or in China, where 63 million have no access to clean water.
The situation worldwide has improved since 1990, with 2.6 billion people gaining access to clean water since then.