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WHO and Water
Supply in India
Water is a basic requirement for life and health. WHO is collaborating with the Government of
India and is providing assistance and catalytic technical support on a
biennial basis on two projects on water supply and sanitation in human
settlements – one for rural and the other for the urban areas in the country,
in the context of Agenda 21.
Today, in the area of drinking water, WHO is concentrating
on areas having linkages with health sector: drinking water quality
monitoring and surveillance, training of manpower to enhance technical skill,
development of IEC training materials, support to develop manuals on water
quality surveillance, operation and maintenance of water supply system,
provide water testing field kits for fluoride and arsenic in selected
districts in the country.
During 2000, WHO supported three training workshops at Calcutta
(30-31 Oct. 2000), Chennai (29-30 Nov. 2000) and Bhopal
(28-29 Dec. 2000) for preparation of plan of action of community based
drinking water quality monitoring and surveillance for rural areas in 10
districts of West Bengal (2), Tamil Nadu (3) and M.P
(5). These training workshops resulted
in developing action plans for identified districts in three states and 160
persons were trained.
High fluoride concentration in ground water, beyond the
permissible limit of 1.5 ppm, has come to stay as a major public health
hazard affecting a large segmentation of rural population to the tune of 25
million spread in over more than 200 districts in 17 states in the country. The
population at risk is estimated around 66 million. A random of 1% sampling of water quality
affected habitations in the country during 1991 brought to light as many as
30845 habitations with excess fluoride in ground water varies between 1.5 ppm
to 29 ppm.
Department of Drinking Water Supply of the Ministry of
Rural Areas and Employment, Government of India, have constituted a Central
Task Force to facilitate in setting up of a Centre of Excellence for
Fluorosis Mitigation. On the request of Government of India, WHO India
Country office has been providing technical support to the Central Task
Force.
WHO has been provided support in 2000 to Government of
India for procurement of 40 nos. potable water testing kits @ 4 nos. per
district for 10 nos. fluoride endemic districts in the country. WHO India country office
provided technical and financial support to the International Workshop on
control of fluorosis and evolve a strategy to mitigate fluoride
problem in ground water, held at Bhopal,
22-24 January, 2001.
Keeping in view that fact that fluorosis is an emerging
public health problem in India, WHO India Country office has been playing a proactive
role with the Government of India for mitigation of fluorosis. WHO supported
a study entitled: “Fluoride in Drinking Water and Thyroid Gland” through an
Agreement of Performance of Work (APW) with the Fluoride Research and Rural
Development Foundation, Delhi on 29 December 2000. The study will be completed by end of January 2002. WHO has also provided support in 2000 to
the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, Delhi
to conduct five trainers training workshops at Calcutta,
Nagpur, Bangalore,
Alwar and Delhi for prevention
and control measures on fluorosis.
The presence of excess Arsenic in Ground Water has been
reported from 3 states in India:
Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, West
Bengal. In West Bengal nearly 5.3 million
people in 8 districts are reported at risk. It is also reported that 200,000
people in West Bengal have arsenic related skin
manifestations.
To accelerate the arsenic mitigation efforts, the Rajiv
Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission of the Department of Drinking Water
Supply, Ministry of Rural Areas and Employment, Government of India and the
Government of West Bengal have decided to establish an arsenic mitigation
centre in Calcutta. The
Department of Drinking Water Supply, Government of India, constituted an
expert committee to facilitate the preparation of Project Document for
Arsenic Mitigation Centre. On the request of the Government of India, WHO
India Country office provided technical support to the Expert Committee. The
Expert Committee of Government of India engaged Water and Power Consultancy
Services (India)
Limited (Government of India undertaking) to prepare the project document.
The scope of Arsenic Mitigation Centre activities will
include: (i) collection, collation, analysis and dissemination of
information; (ii) providing state of the art laboratory support; (iii)
validation of new technologies and processes in the area of water treatment,
water testing, biological samples and medical treatment procedures; (iv)
awareness generation, motivation and sensitization; (v) capacity building for
project implementation; and (vi) assistance in planning, co-ordination and
monitoring.
The Draft Project Document for Arsenic Mitigation Centre
prepared by Water and Power Consultancy Services (India)
Ltd. is under review.
WHO India Country Office also provided technical and
financial support to the International workshop on control of Arsenic Contamination
in Ground Water, held at Calcutta,
from 5-6 January 2000.
WHO is also supporting a study on the existing
Institutional Framework for Disease Surveillance Arising out of Arsenic Toxicity. The study has been supported to the Department
of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences,
New Delhi. The study is expected
to be completed by the end of December 2002. WHO has also provided support to
the Government of India for preparation of an Implementation manual for
National Water Quality Surveillance programme in rural areas in the country. The draft manual prepared by All India Institute
of Hygiene and Public Health, Calcutta
in January 2001. The draft is under review.
WHO has also provided support through an Agreement for Performance
of Work for preparation of a manual on Operation and Maintenance of Water
Supply Systems in Urban Areas in the country. The
draft manual is expected to be ready by the end December 2001.
Besides supporting two research studies relevant to
surveillance of drinking water quality in the county, WHO supported
participation of five senior professionals and one official of the Government
of India in intercountry consultation/training/study tour relevant to quality
assurance in water supply systems and to enhance technical skills.
The first country-level (India) meeting on revision of WHO
Guidelines for Drinking water Quality in south-East Asia Region organized by
WHO Representative to India on 25 May 2000 in WHO/SEARO. The meeting
involving senior professionals in the areas of health, water supply and
sanitation and environment, was a part of the advocacy for health and
determinants of health. It was attended by 23 participants from the
Directorate General of Health Services, New Delhi; National Institute of
Communicable Diseases (NICD), Delhi; Bureau of Indian Standards; Central
Public Health and Environmental Engineering organization of the Ministry of
Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation; Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking
Water Mission (RGNDWM) in the Department of Drinking Water Supply of the
Ministry of Rural Areas and Employment; Ministry of Environment and Forests;
National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur;
Central Insecticides Laboratory, Delhi; All India Institute of Hygiene and
Public Health, Calcutta; Indian Toxicology Research Institute, Lucknow; Delhi
Jal Board; Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi; Representatives from the
Asian Development Bank (ADB) and UNICEF in addition to staff from WHO/SEARO.
The first country-level (India) meeting on revision of WHO
Guidelines for Drinking water Quality in south-East Asia Region organized by
WHO Representative to India on 25 May 2000 in WHO/SEARO. The meeting
involving senior professionals in the areas of health, water supply and
sanitation and environment, was a part of the advocacy for health and
determinants of health. It was attended by 23 participants from the
Directorate General of Health Services, New Delhi; National Institute of
Communicable Diseases (NICD), Delhi; Bureau of Indian Standards; Central
Public Health and Environmental Engineering organization of the Ministry of
Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation; Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking
Water Mission (RGNDWM) in the Department of Drinking Water Supply of the
Ministry of Rural Areas and Employment; Ministry of Environment and Forests;
National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur;
Central Insecticides Laboratory, Delhi; All India Institute of Hygiene and
Public Health, Calcutta; Indian Toxicology Research Institute, Lucknow; Delhi
Jal Board; Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi; Representatives from the
Asian Development Bank (ADB) and UNICEF in addition to staff from WHO/SEARO.
The first country-level (India) meeting on revision of WHO
Guidelines for Drinking water Quality in south-East Asia Region organized by
WHO Representative to India on 25 May 2000 in WHO/SEARO. The meeting
involving senior professionals in the areas of health, water supply and
sanitation and environment, was a part of the advocacy for health and
determinants of health. It was attended by 23 participants from the
Directorate General of Health Services, New Delhi; National Institute of
Communicable Diseases (NICD), Delhi; Bureau of Indian Standards; Central
Public Health and Environmental Engineering organization of the Ministry of
Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation; Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking
Water Mission (RGNDWM) in the Department of Drinking Water Supply of the
Ministry of Rural Areas and Employment; Ministry of Environment and Forests;
National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur;
Central Insecticides Laboratory, Delhi; All India Institute of Hygiene and
Public Health, Calcutta; Indian Toxicology Research Institute, Lucknow; Delhi
Jal Board; Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi; Representatives from the
Asian Development Bank (ADB) and UNICEF in addition to staff from WHO/SEARO.
The Sanitary Engineer of WHO India Country team visited
Kutchh district from 3 to 8 February
2001, made quick assessment of water and sanitation situation in
the aftermath of the earthquake, provided technical advice for immediate
relief measures and support to restore water supply and sanitation facilities
quickly in the affected areas in Kutchh district.
The WHO is mainly concerned with the quality of water. The
earthquake also damaged the chlorination facilities necessary to disinfect
the water and keep it safe from disease-bearing organisms. This has necessitated the use of emergency
equipment and manual application of chlorine solution to the water supply. In
addition, special procedures have had to be developed for the chlorination of
water carried by tankers and delivered to temporary storage tanks. The mixing
and application of chlorine solutions has been carried out by a wide variety
of personnel, some of whom are technically trained but many are not. The
result has been a great variation of chlorination dosing with some supplies
containing almost no chlorine while other exhibiting excessive amounts.
To determine the safety of the disinfected water supplies,
technical and health personnel, have been provided with simple, hand-held
chloroscopes by WHO to measure the chlorine residual of water supplies at
various points in the systems.
WHO country office as well as Regional Office are
providing technical, logistical, administrative support to WHO Mission in
Gujarat to establish water quality surveillance programme for Kutchh to meet
the needs of current emergency in the earthquake affected areas and to
strengthen the capability of the Kutchh District Water Quality Laboratory to
carry out surveillance programme during the emergency and in the future after
normal operations have resumed. WHO country office and as well as Regional
Office are maintaining contacts with donors and mobilizing donor supports for
the purpose.
The International observance of World Water Day (WWD) is
an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro.
The United Nation General Assembly designated 22 March of each year as the
World Day for Water by adopting resolution (A/res/47/193).
Every year World Water Day (WWD) and Water Resources Day
(WRD) is celebrated on 22 March in India.
This is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Water Resources, Government of
India and UN system (UNDP, WHO, UNICEF and UNESCO). WHO has been providing
technical and part funding support for the function.
The theme for World Water Day 2001 is “Water for Health”. For this reason,
and for the first time, the World Health Organization (WHO) is the lead
agency in the UN System for the Day.
In India,
the curtain raiser function for the World Water Day 2001 and Water Resources
Day 2001 will be held on 22 March
2001 at Nehru Memorial Auditorium, Teen Murti Bhawan, New Delhi. Representatives of WHO
India Country Team and SEARO are providing technical support to the organizer
as members of the organizing committee. WHO is participating in the
exhibition organized at the Teen Murti Bhawan, New Delhi
on 22 March 2001. WHO publications and World Water Day websitewww.worldwaterday.org would
be displayed in the exhibition. The website has been launched by WHO/HQ in
collaboration with the IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre. The
web-site address provides a wealth of information on water for health issues
and gives free access to information about World Water Day.
To support the celebration of the World Water Day, WHO India Country office provided technical
support to WHO South‑East
Asia Regional Office, New Delhi, for publication of “India
Fact Sheet” for the purpose.
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