The scale of India’s water infrastructure failure is staggering. Urban areas generate approximately 72,368 million liters of wastewater daily, yet 72 percent remains untreated before disposal. The United Nations estimates that 37.7 million Indians suffer from waterborne diseases annually. A Lancet study attributed 1.4 million deaths in 2019 to water pollution—a toll greater than many infectious disease epidemics.
The impact on vulnerable populations is devastating. Diarrheal diseases alone carry an infant mortality rate of 9 percent for children aged 0-59 months. Fluoride contamination affects over 60 million people across 21 states, causing dental and skeletal fluorosis that leads to physical disability and social exclusion.