NEW DELHI – Recent data of drinking water and sanitation ministry shows that at least 22% rural households have to cover more than half a km to fetch drinking water and over 67% of rural households don’t have access to latrines.
The worst-affected states in the second category are Jharkhand where over 91% villagers have no access to latrines, while in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh – two of the fastest growing states – over 85% rural population lack basic sanitation. Odisha ranks fourth so for as lack of this basic necessity is concerned. Quoting the Census 2011 data, minister of state Bharatsinh Solanki informed the Lok Sabha that the condition is equally bad in Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Solanki’s another submission on availability of drinking water also shows how a large chunk of rural population has to cover long distance to get potable water. While at all-India level, only one-fifth of the rural population has water supply points at a distance of more than 500 meters from their home in the case of at least 11 states three in every 10 households are deprived of easy access to drinking water. These include Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, besides north-eastern states like Manipur and Mizoram.
