India has the most people without clean water, report says
India has the world’s highest number of people without access to clean water — imposing a major financial burden for some of the country’s poorest people, according to a report released yesterday.
The international charity Water Aid says 75.8 million Indians — or 5 percent of the country’s 1.25 billion population — are forced to either buy water at high rates or use supplies that are contaminated with sewage or chemicals. That accounts for more than a tenth of the 650 million people worldwide without clean water access — more than any single country in Africa or China, where 63 million have no access.
The situation worldwide has improved since 1990, with 2.6 billion people gaining access to clean water since then. But the report urged more action in “a world where one in 10 people are trapped in a cycle of poverty and disease for want of a safe, affordable water supply of their own.” MDT/AP
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