PM warns of severe water shortage

NEW DELHI: Warning of severe water shortage in the next few decades, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday advocated "collective" action by government, citizens and NGOs to conserve the resource.

"Our planet will encounter in the next few decades severe shortages of water if we are not careful in conserving and preserving precious water resources of our country," he said inaugurating a two-day conference on rural water supply and sanitation here.
Singh said government agencies must create a framework for collective action with non-governmental agencies and civil society at large for conserving water.

"If environment provides the backward linkage for drinking water, its forward linkage is with health. Increasingly, we are faced with a situation where diseases related to public health, especially communicable diseases, are on the increase," the Prime Minister told the conference being attended by Ministers in-charge of rural water from various states and union territories.

The Department of Drinking Water has to take proactive action to sensitise the community on safe water and its use, he said pointing out that quite often water borne diseases occur even in those habitations where safe water was provided.