70% houses in Kerala lack access to safe drinking water : Census 2011

Having a kitchen in the house is a priority for an overwhelming majority of Malayalis, but safe drinking water remains a dream for more than 70 per cent of the households in the State while 3.8 per cent still defecate in the open.

The latest Census figures reveal that Kerala pales in comparison with most other States in access to piped drinking water. Only 29.3 per cent of the houses in the State are serviced by the water supply network and just 23.4 per cent get treated water. While Union Territories of Chandigarh (96.7) and Puducherry (95.3) top the list, 19 States have ensured that more than 50 per cent of their population has access to tap water.

Sixty-two per cent of the households in Kerala depend on wells for drinking water, 1.4 per cent of houses rely on springs, 0.2 per cent on rivers and canals and 0.7 per cent on tanks, ponds and lakes, exposing themselves to bacterial and chemical contamination.

While 0.7 per cent use hand pumps to draw water, 3.7 per cent are serviced by tubewells. The figures show that 77.7 per cent of households have drinking water sources within their premises, 14.1 per cent near the premises and 8.2 per cent away.

As many as 2,93,222 households in Kerala, representing 3.8 per cent of the total, use open grounds for defecation. Though the figure is relatively very low compared to most other States and Union Territories, the fact that it exists is embarrassing for Kerala, a State that claims to be very high on hygiene and sanitation. While more than 70 per cent of households in Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh still resort to open defecation, Chandigarh (3.2), Delhi (3.3) and Lakshadweep (1.8) have a lower percentage than Kerala. Only 12 per cent of the houses in Kerala are connected to the piped sewer system, while 50.3 per cent depend on septic tanks and 4.4 per cent on other systems. 0.2 per cent of the households discharge toilet waste into open drains.

As many as 3,70,385 households, representing 4.8 per cent of the total, do not have a latrine within their premises and 1.1 per cent use public latrines.

While 14.2 per cent of houses do not have a bathroom, 4.6 per cent of the population bathe in enclosures without a roof. As many as 53.6 per cent of households has no drainage system for bathrooms and 21.2 per cent have open drainage. The data reveals that 96.7 per cent of households in the State have a kitchen, with just 1.5 per cent having to cook in the open.

- T Nandakumar, The Hindu