THE outcome of the Rio+20 conference at Rio de Janeiro (June 20 to 22) resulted in the production of the document: ‘Our Common Vision’. Under the sub-heading of water and sanitation, the document says:
“We recognise that water is at the core of sustainable development as it is closely linked to a number of key global challenges… In this regard, we reaffirm our commitments regarding the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation. We recognise the key role that ecosystems play in maintaining water quantity and quality.
“We underline the need to adopt measures to address floods, droughts and water scarcity, addressing the balance between water supply and demand, and to mobilise financial resources and investment in infrastructure for water and sanitation services.
“We stress the need to adopt measures to significantly reduce water pollution and increase water quality, significantly improve wastewater treatment and water efficiency and reduce water losses.”These few selected excerpts clearly signify the importance of water and sanitation and, human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, at the global level.
Climate change, urbanisation and industrialisation have impacted the water landscape by increasing the water demand and at the same time degraded water supplies, as is happening in Sindh. The mounting challenges posed by these pressures highlight the importance of water.
In rural Sindh access to clean water, or the lack of it, determines the ability of families and individuals to lead safe and productive lives. Experiments are being made with membrane-based water treatment plants to provide safe drinking water, as against the conventional municipal water treatment plants. This is an inappropriate approach that is being adopted.
A major British bank has recently announced a $100 million global investment in water to tackle water risks in rivers and, bring safe water and sanitation to over a million people.
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is spending millions of dollars on improving sanitation in South Asian and Sub-Saharan Africa.
In India, Bollywood actress Vidya Balan has been named as the brand ambassador for improving sanitation. Bollywood celebrity Shahrukh Khan is likely to join the campaign to end open defecation in India. Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and actor Aamir Khan are promoting school sanitation and hand-washing in India
In rural Sindh, poor drinking water quality and sanitation are the major culprits in causing diarrhoea, a major killer of children under five.
Diseases caused by unsafe sanitation accounts for roughly half of all hospitalisations in the rural Sindh. There are many studies which suggest that access to safe sanitation reduces child diarrhoea by 30 per cent and significantly increase school attendance as well.
According to WHO, improved sanitation can produce up to $9 for every $1 invested by increasing productivity, reducing healthcare costs, and preventing illness, disability, and early death.
An ADB-funded programme is in place that aims at improving water and sanitation in Sindh. The programme covers a few cities only. The chief minister should expand the programme’s scope to cover all cities, towns and villages of the province. The increased funding from the ADB, as a result, presents an excellent opportunity to provide safe water and basic sanitation to all in Sindh.
F. H. Mughal Karachi