1 in 8 schools lack water filters

Mumbai: Only one out of the eight schools surveyed in Mumbai has electric filters while the remaining seven do not have any facility to provide students with clean, filtered water. On Tuesday, Bal Hakk Abhiyan (BHA) revealed the results of its survey conducted along with Child Rights and You (CRY) Foundation. The survey covered 11,300 students in 122 schools across eight districts of Maharashtra. The objective of the survey was to check whether schools were focusing on the 10 indicators mentioned in the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. 

Mamta Sen of CRY told this newspaper, “Of the surveyed eight schools, only one had electric filters while the remaining did not have any provision for clean drinking water. The focus is not just Mumbai but the whole of Maharashtra. Sixty-three per cent surveyed schools did not have any type of water filter. Only 13 per cent had electrical water filters.”

The RTE act defines availability of “filtered water” as potable water to be made available in all schools. Going by the survey results, 63 per cent schools are not following RTE norms. 

The BHA report stated, “Non-availability of safe drinking water will lead to health issues and absenteeism among the children. The government should take up provision of filtered water in schools as the highest priority.”

Forty per cent schools had closed storage of water while six per cent and nine per cent, had flowing tap water and other storage options, respectively. BHA has recommended that the state government and BMC provide filters to each school and subsidise electricity rates and provide special electric filters to ensure clean, safe drinking water for students.