" HEEALS "

As we pass the second anniversary of the declaration of water and sanitation as a basic human right, there is little to celebrate Share 105 Email Thalif Deen for  IPS , part of the  Guardian development network guardian.co.uk ,  Tuesday 7 August 2012 10.00 BST Drilling work for water near Eenhana in Ohangwena region, northern Namibia. Photograph: Christoph Lohe When the 193-member general assembly, the UN's highest policymaking body, declared water and  sanitation  a basic human right back in July 2010, the adoption of that divisive resolution was hailed by many as a "historic" achievement. But as the international community commemorated the second anniversary of that resolution on 28 July, there was hardly any political rejoicing either inside or outside the UN. A coalition of 15 international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), whose members describe themselves as "water justice activists", said this human right is yet to be fully implemented. Deman

The total volume of water on Earth is about 1.4 billion km3. The volume of freshwater resources is around 35 million km3, or about 2.5 percent of the total volume. Source: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Of these freshwater resources, about 24 million km3 or 70 percent is in the form of ice and permanent snow cover in mountainous regions, the Antarctic and Arctic regions. Source: UNEP Around 30 percent of the world's freshwater is stored underground in the form of groundwater (shallow and deep groundwater basins up to 2 000 metres, soil moisture, swamp water and permafrost). This constitutes about 97 percent of all the freshwater that is potentially available for human use. Source: UNEP Freshwater lakes and rivers contain an estimated 105 000 km3 or around 0.3 percent of the world's freshwater. Source: UNEP The Earth's atmosphere contains approximately 13,000 km3 of water. Source: World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) The total usable

Heeals Times ,10th August 2012 , New Delhi  by Gaurav Kashyap  For the people of Uttar Pradesh onset of monsoon brings the season of death in the form of diseases one such disease known as  Acute encephalitis syndrome AES, commonly known as Japanese Encephalitis (JE) or brain fever is haunting the lives of millions of people across the state. We can save many lives by eradicating this disease by making our citizens aware through Campaigns on Safe Drinking Water & Sanitation.  Uttar Pradesh where most of the cases are reported are grip in this disease from very long time. Japanese Encephalitis caused by mosquito bites and AES believed to cause by Bad Sanitation and Un Safe Drinking Water. It mostly affects the children aged below 15year. 25% of the victims die and 30%to40% of the survivor suffer from physical and mental impairment. The population at risk is about 300 million.  A case of AES is defined as a person of any age at a any time of the year with the acute onset of fe

Arsenic is believed to cause several diseases such as bone deformation, skin ailments, cancer of the intestines, kidneys and bladder as well as gangrene. Arsenic can also contaminate standing crops if it is present in the soil and soil water.Persons suffering from arsenicosis do not respond to known treatment procedures.  We Need a Nation Wide Campaign on "Safe Drinking Water And Sanitation" . which help them in getting there basic rights. According to the established guidelines, drinking water having more than 10 parts per billion (ppb) arsenic content increases mortality rates since arsenic is a bio-accumulative toxin. Nearly 50 crore people are estimated to be at risk across Utttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Bangladesh due to high arsenic content in drinking water. High intake of arsenic along with malnourishment and lack of medical care worsens the life of people, especially children, in the arsenic-affected regions. Recently ,(BITS) in Pilani have developed

Bio—toilets developed by DRDO today earned praise from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who said that these could go a long way in solving the problem of open defecation in rural India. He said if these “green, cost effective flush and forget technology is successfully implanted, it will give a big boost to our Total Sanitation Campaign.” “I was very happy to learn that DRDO in collaboration with FICCI has developed a bio—toilet that promises to solve the problem of open defecation in rural India,” the Prime Minister said addressing a DRDO awards function here. Singh said, “Application of technology to social benefit programmes should be expanded further.” Recently, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh had said that India had emerged as the world capital of “open defecation” and this was a “matter of shame, anguish, sorrow, anger.” He had said that the government intended to rid the country of open defecation in the next 10 years and added that the bio—toilets would also help in c