We no longer live in the times when people would fetch water from some nearby natural resource – a pond, a river or a lake. That water was used for all purposes – drinking, dishing, washing and cleaning. Given the status of our water bodies, and also the changing pattern of population and housing, it is no more a possibility. The population is growing too fast, the pattern of housing has changed beyond recognition, and the water bodies have either turned extinct or they are in a very bad shape. So, practically speaking, the government has to supply water to every household for all the purposes – drinking, washing and dishing. To provide such a service there is a huge department established by the government for this purpose. As the population grows and the levels of pollution go up it is a challenging job for the concerned department to provide safe drinking water to all the households.
That is why the service infrastructure needs regular inputs. To this end the government announces different schemes from time to time and funds are provided to implement those schemes. Now if the schemes are not implemented properly, and the funds are not utilised fully there is something seriously wrong with the functioning of the concerned department, and the relevant officers in the higher echelons of the officialdom. In many such cases there are reports that schemes were not timely implemented and the delay resulted in the abortion of the whole programme. Here the department needs to do some vigorous introspection. At the same time the quality of water provided to the final consumer is also a matter of grave concern. The levels of pollution in our water bodies, from where the water is lifted in the first instance, demands fine filtration. Does that happen or there are loopholes in the process of filtration. In case the quality of water is found wanting it means a direct threat to the health of the people.