Authored by Dr. Dr Anil Kumar from Eureka Forbes.
Access to safe drinking water in India even today remains uneven and precarious. While it has fairly improved over the years, not all households can be assured of water that is safe and reliably potable. A large proportion of families continue to depend on home-based filtration or purification methods to make water suitable for cooking and drinking, as water from local sources is often not safe for direct consumption.
Serious safety concerns persist even in areas with piped water supply. Urban centres continue to witness outbreaks of waterborne diseases caused by contamination in supply lines, often due to sewage ingress. Recent incidents in prominent cities Gandhinagar and Indore underscore how vulnerabilities in water infrastructure can compromise public health, even in well-developed regions.
Access to safely managed drinking water that is available when needed, free from contaminants, and fit for consumption at the source remains a challenge across the country. This is a critical benchmark for sustainability. Water security is further threatened by declining groundwater levels and quality issues such as fluoride and arsenic contamination, particularly in rural areas where groundwater is the primary source of drinking water.
“Ensuring safe drinking water for every Indian household is not just a development goal, it’s essential for public health and economic resilience. While our national initiatives like the Jal Jeevan Mission have expanded access, true water security also requires sustained investments in quality monitoring, advanced treatment technologies, and community awareness so that every glass of water is truly safe,” says Dr. Anil Kumar, spokesperson from Eureka Forbes.
As India works towards universal water access, the focus must now decisively shift from mere availability to assurance because access to water alone is not enough unless every drop is genuinely safe to drink.