Indian cities produce more water than many other cities in the world but continuous or 24x7 water supply is still a distant dream, said V Srinivasa Chary, director, Centre for Energy, Environment, Urban Governance and Infrastructure Development, Administrative Staff College of India.

Speaking at a workshop organised by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), UNICEF and Hindustan United Lever on World Water Day in New Delhi, he also said that continuous water supply also leads to better public health in the country.

He also said that only two places in India, Thiruvananthapuram and Kota, can boast of a 24-hour water supply. “But there are places like Navi Mumbai, Hubli Darhwal, Latur and Mysore which are moving towards the 24-hour water supply model,” Chary added.

Talking about the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of access to drinking water, Lizette Burgers, chief, Water and Environmental Sanitation Section, UNICEF, said that India has a lot to be proud of as it has achieved a lot since the last couple of years. “India has already achieved its MDG target of 86 percent of access to improved sources of drinking water.  However, the safety of this water is a challengesin front of us,” she added.

Rajendra Singh, president of Tarun Bharat, said that water quality is directly affected by its exploitation, encroachment and pollution. “One has to balance recharge and discharge to address the quality of water,” he added.

Apart from concentrating on Ganga and Yamuna, there is also a need to prevent other rivers from dying, said Ramaswamy Iyer of the Centre for Policy Research. “There is also nothing about water in our Constitution. A law on water is not essential to work on water issues, but it is necessary,” he said.