Rural households in Kerala are the worst hit with only 29.5% having access to safe drinking water, according to the study". (Read TOI article here) More over Modi supporters were quoting this article to prove "Gujarat Model" better than "Kerala model".I have read a news article in Times of India(TOI) about drinking water issue in Kerala. As per TOI their report is based on National Sample Survey Office(NSSO) . As a Keralite I was shocked to read this article and knowing ground realities.
Knowing reputation of TOI I have gone through NSSO and its surprised me. TOI reporter has only gone through only first table from a list 22 table. TOI tweaked 'improved source of drinking water" to access to drinking water. To get a clear picture I will give a list of observations in NSSO comparing Kerala & Gujarat.
1a. Improved Source of drinking water - Kerala - Rural 29.5% Urban 56.8%
Gujarat - Rural 89.2% Urban 95.6%
1b.Sufficient water throughout Year - Kerala - Rural 86% Urban 91.6%
Gujarat - Rural 86.3% Urban 96.1%
2a.House holds having drinking water facility in premises - Kerala - Rural 73.5% Urban 81.9%
Gujarat - Rural 57.6% Urban 84.1%
2b.House holds having drinking water facility within .2 km - Kerala - Rural 22.7% Urban 16.2%
Gujarat - Rural 26.3% Urban 11.4%
3.Average time to fetch water from outside premises (minutes) - Kerala - Rural 16 Urban 11
Gujarat - Rural 21 Urban 14
4.Average waiting time to fetch water from primary source outside premises (minutes) -
Kerala - Rural 9 Urban9
Gujarat - Rural 12 Urban 20
5.House holds treating drinking water - Kerala - Rural 82.4% Urban 90.1%
Gujarat - Rural 85.4% Urban 87.9%
6.Households getting good quality drinking water - Kerala - Rural 94.7% Urban 90.2%
Gujarat - Rural 94.1% Urban83.1%
7. Sufficient water throughout year for household activities - Kerala - Rural 84.6% Urban 88.8%
Gujarat - Rural 88.1% Urban93.4%
8.Households who got daily supply of water- Kerala - Rural 62.2% Urban84.3%
Gujarat - Rural 78% Urban81.7%
9.Households without bathroom facility - Kerala - Rural 9.7% Urban 5.3%
Gujarat - Rural 53.9% Urban 15.7%
10.Households with bathing facility within premises - Kerala - Rural 95.7% Urban98.8%
Gujarat - Rural 93.9% Urban98.7%
11.Households without latrine facility - Kerala - Rural 2.8% Urban 1.2%
Gujarat - Rural 58.7% Urban 6.2%
12.Household with electricity for domestic use- Kerala - Rural 96.7% Urban 98.7%
Gujarat - Rural 95.9% Urban 98.9%
13.Household living in a house with pucca structure - Kerala - Rural 85.4% Urban 90.8%
Gujarat - Rural 80.1% Urban 97.9%
Improved source of drinking water is not equal to safe water. NSSO defined improved source of drinking water as bottled water, piped water into dwelling, piped water to yard/plot , public tap/stand pipe , tube well/ borehole , protected well, protected spring and rain water harvesting. TOI changed this to safe means remaining water sources are unsafe . Most of the water resources in Kerala are "open well" or "open spring". But as a state having 6 - 8 months of rain in a year, it will be a stupid analogy to call Kerala's open well and spring as unsafe.
When TOI gave a headline "Kerala worst hit in access to protected water" they forget to note that 82.4% households in Rural and 90% households in urban drink treated (Boiling, filtering, using chemicals, electronic purifier etc ) drinking water. May be an intentional error to show that "Gujarat model" is superior to "Kerala model"
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