Water Pollution in India: An Overview

Abstract

Most ancient civilizations grew along the banks of rivers. Even today, millions of people all over the world live on the banks of rivers and depend on them for their survival. All of us have seen a river large or small either flowing through our town or somewhere else. Rivers are nothing more than surface water flowing down from a higher altitude to a lower altitude due to the pull of gravity. One river might have its source in a glacier another in a spring or a lake. Rivers carry dissolved minerals organic compounds, small grains of sand gravel and other material as they flow downstream. Rivers begin as small streams which grow wider as smaller streams and rivers join them along their course across the land. Eventually they flow into seas or oceans. Unfortunately most of the world’s major rivers are heavily polluted. The pollution of environment is the gift of the Industrial revolution prior to this the agrarian cultures created significant environment deforestation and overgrazing. The Environmental degradation is a byproduct of modern civilization. Water Pollution is a major global problem which requires on going evaluation and revision of water resource policy at all levels. It has been suggested that water pollution is the leading worldwide cause of deaths and diseases and that it accounts for the deaths of more than 14,000 people daily. An estimated 580 people in India die of water pollution related illness every day.