"India's Promise" - Watery Wealth
Tuesday, May 22, 2007SUSIE GHARIB: For centuries, Hindus of India have believed in the holy and healing powers of water. From bathing in the Ganges River to tossing sweets into the waters of the Yamuna, India's rivers are at the center of its holiest rituals. But now water has also become a part of a ritual of survival and the source of anxiety for millions. Tonight, as we continue our series "India's Promise", Darren Gersh looks at how water has everyone from villagers to businessmen wringing their hands.
DARREN GERSH, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Every day in this Delhi village begins with a trip to the local well. It is a time-consuming task.
TRANSLATION OF: UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have to come here every day early in the morning and to fill my water, it takes me over an hour.
GERSH: It is also unsafe. The water is supposed to be used only for washing, but it isn't.
TRANSLATION OF: UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What can a poor person do? Where are we going to get special water from? Whatever we get we will drink.
GERSH: Not everyone is fortunate enough to have a well. In the slums, where almost half of Delhi's population lives, water may never flow at all. There's no plumbing in this slum. Water is tanked in sometimes. Rama Devi has lived here for 14 years. She uses this water to bathe and wash her dishes. The wastewater drains out here and ends up in open sewers. But Rama says water is hard to come by in the summer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Four months problem. One day water come in, two days no come in.
GERSH: Around the corner from Rama's house, this man is trying to find out when the next shipment of water will arrive. But there's no answer. This tanker has been sitting here empty for more than a day. Last night's shipment never showed up and it doesn't look like one will show up this morning. In the summer, the people here say they can wait as long as a week for fresh water. And when it does finally show up, the fighting here can get so bad, that the police are often called in.
Bringing safe water to India is Duane Dunk's business. He works for Halosource, an American water purification company. Dunk says even in middle class neighborhoods like this one, water is piped in only two hours a day. That wouldn't be a problem, except the old water pipes were laid next to the sewage pipes, and the pipes leak.
DUANE DUNK, DIRECTOR OF DRINKING WATER, HALOSOURCE, INC.: And so here in this neighborhood, I have people tell me they have fecal matter-- sewage-- in their tap water.
GERSH: Backed by funding from Unilever and the Mars food company, Halosource has developed a patented technology to bond chlorine or bromine to plastic beads. The result is a cartridge that purifies water, killing bacteria and viruses. The technology is now being tested in a child's sports bottle. So this is a filter?
DUNK: Yes.
GERSH: And this kills the bugs.
DUNK: That's correct.
GERSH: So the idea is, if the kids get to school and the water is bad there...
DUNK: They can refill it then. They're not out of luck when they run out of water, they can still drink more.
GERSH: This product is good for a year and will retail for around $10. In a nation of one billion people, you can see why Halosource considers India the best market in the world for water.
DUNK: We got to find a better way than just relying on infrastructure and big government to solve our problems. What Halosource is about is empowering people to be able to take control of their water supply, look after their own family and do so affordably.
GERSH: Bad water also takes a toll on India's economy. PS Printing uses water at every step of its production process, from washing printing plates to thinning inks. The company uses water from its well and also trucks in water. But the quality of the water is poor and damages the equipment. Company manager Manjeet Bedi says better quality water from the city is in short supply.
COL. MANJEET BEDI (RET.) GENERAL MANAGER, PS PRESS SERVICES: They are just about meeting the drinking load of the city, so that takes a priority over the industry. Drinking water has to be given.
GERSH: The World Bank has warned India will face a severe water crisis in the next two decades that could derail its economy. After the Yamuna River leaves Delhi, it is so polluted, the water is considered untreatable. Montek Singh Ahluwalia is deputy chairman of the government's planning commission. He says water is an even more serious problem than India's infamous energy shortages.
MONTEK SINGH AHLUWALIA, DEPUTY CHAIRMAN, INDIA PLANNING COMMISSION: We've known about the energy crisis for a long time. People are rational about energy pricing. People recognize that energy is expensive. We import the energy from outside. We know what it costs abroad, so while there is some feeling that energy for certain targeted groups needs to be subsidized, in general, people recognize that you got to pay for energy. I don't think people feel that about water. There's a sort of presumption that water is a gift of God.
GERSH: And a gift from the state, which delivers water almost free of charge, leading to widespread waste. It's beginning to seep in for many Indians just how bad the water situation is.
AHLUAWALIA: People are much more aware now that there is a problem, but it's only seen as a problem. We haven't yet gotten around to working out what's a practical way of solving the problem, basically.
GERSH: If India does not act soon, a nation that worships its rivers may soon find it is dying of thirst. Darren Gersh, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Delhi.
