Before it is dumped into the river which supplies water not only to this city but to innumerable towns and villages downstream.the Ganga,the Yamuna,the Kaveri ,in fact all our importantrivers serving many urban conglomerations, are fast becoming a major source of diseases.3. A comprehensive bill introduced in the Parliament recently, envisages the setting up of centraland state boards for the prevention and control of water pollution. But it will obviously takesome time before legislation is passed and effectively implemented. Meanwhile the problemcontinues to swell. According to a survey of eight dwelling countries conducted a couple ofyears ago, 90 per cent of all child deaths were due to water borne diseases. It is the sameunchanged story today.4. In a country like India, a burgeoning population continuing to use the open countryside as alavatory means that with every dust storm and rain, human excreta laden with germs andparasites find their way to ponds, shallow wells and even the streams and rivers. Only 18 percent of the rural folk have access to potable water.​