India, April 17 -- Water supply must be linked to the system of sanitation and wastewater generation
Illustration: Yogendra Anand / CSE
Without access to clean water, life is unhealthy and unbearable. Successive governments, both at the Centre and in states, have worked, over the years, to provide clean water to rural communities. But experience shows that even as water supply has "reached" villages, the number of villages that has again fallen into the "unreached" category has grown. This zero-sum game is because water supply is not only about building pipes but also about ensuring the sustainability of the source of the supply system. Meaning, even if water supply has "reached" the village, the built and delivered infrastructure breaks ...