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Happy to share in public what I’ve been working on for the last month - India’s most comprehensive coverage of UNTREATED SEWAGE issue, covering EVERY SINGLE aspect of it in one place 🙏🙏 Made it all live a few hours back: https://lnkd.in/gWxY-VXY But, what’s more important is why I delved into this. And this is also why YOU, I and EVERYONE SHOULD care. .. Govt’s stats show, 72%+ of urban wastewater is released into the environment without any processing 🙏🙏 As per FY21 data, urban areas produced about 72bn litres of sewage per day but had an installed treatment capacity to process only 44% of that. But, as many treatment plants don’t operate at full capacity due to poor maintenance and other issues - only 28% of the sewage was actually being treated, with rest flowing untreated into rivers, lakes, and the soil. That’s the same as dumping 18k Olympic-sized swimming pools full of raw sewage straight into the environment daily! .. Nobody discusses the truth that untreated sewage is India’s No.1 source of water pollution, turning urban rivers into foul, toxic streams. Much of India’s freshwater is sullied by the very cities it sustains. Lakes and wetlands near cities have met the same fate – frothing with sewage & industrial effluents, devoid of oxygen and reeking of decay. - Aquatic ecosystems are collapsing as fish and other organisms cannot survive the high pollution load - Groundwater is also at risk: In many unsewered towns, excreta seeps from pit latrines and drains into the soil, contaminating wells and boreholes And this unfolds in plain sight. This is breeding a public health catastrophe. .. Pathogens from sewage find their way into drinking water and food chain, breeding water-borne diseases like diarrhoea, cholera, typhoid, and hepatitis which killed 1.2L+ Indian kids under five in 2015 alone (link in comments) Repeated bouts of diarrhoea and other infections also leave many more malnourished and vulnerable, perpetuating a cycle of poverty and ill health. Outcome? Piling hospital bills, lost productivity & stunted human potential. It’s a no-brainer: low-income communities in urban areas face the harshest impact, as they often lack piped safe water & depend on lakes/borewells that are easily contaminated by nearby sewage drains. Inequality is literally embodied in who gets to drink clean water - the wealthy can buy bottled water and filters, while the poor suffer cholera outbreaks from the filthy river flowing past their slum. That's why, with help from some special people (you know them - mentioned in the newsletter), I went all in. Because gone are the days to count followers. It's time to make followers count. Do read & share your views.