Drinking water around the world.
It’s scarce, unevenly distributed and causes mass migration – here are some facts about our drinking water.
The vast majority of that, about 97 percent, is sea water.
Between 1.7 and two of the remaining three percent is permanently trapped in glaciers, ice and snow.
Most of the little that remains is ground water or soil moist.
While that covers the needs in places like Germany, Sweden, Argentina or Canada, the Global Water Institute estimates that 700 million people in 43 countries currently suffer from water scarcity.
And conditions are set to get worse.
The UNCCD meanwhile predicts that by 2030, as many as 700 million people will be forced to leave their homes due to water shortages, aggravated by climate change.
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Fast Lab Results – US & Canada asbestostestinglab.com The distribution of drinking water is even more uneven.

Another ‘Manjhi’: Man Digs a Pond Over 27 Years in Chhattisgarh.
Stories of human resilience and strength are always an inspiration.
However, there are a few who have pushed the boundaries of human capability to levels many find hard to believe.
Over the last 27 years, he has kept on the fight single-handedly.
No help came from the government, but he went on digging selflessly.
If the authorities want to willingly help me then it’s fine and even if they don’t, I will continue digging until the pond is full of water.
I will dig till I am alive, whether the govt helps or not.
It took him 22 years to carve a road through the mountain using just a hammer and chisel.
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This law school maxim seems to be the prevailing sentiment after the court verdict on the Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim in a rape case after his followers ran amok in Panchkula and left the beautiful township scarred after the mayhem.
While the Dera followers would insist that their Naam Charcha was peaceful, the radical Sikh groups insisted on shutting down the Dera Salabatpura where the 2007 incident reportedly took place.
The radical Sikh groups would despatch jathas from Takht Sri Damdama Sahib in Talwandi Sabo to Salabatpura demanding that it be shut down and the police would take them into custody at Bhai Rupa, 10 kms away, to prevent their entry.
There was a more potent example of how religious and caste sentiments are a recipe for trouble.
The local pull-out of this paper had carried a report about water scarcity in the city.
I started getting calls from 6.30 in the morning about the report being derogatory and that it had caste overtones.
The anonymous callers were aware that we were not carrying the apology and had threatened further action.
They had not read the news.
The matter ended but it showed how things were —people got worked up over a report they had not read.
They had reacted just because somebody had told them it was derogatory, and then worked themselves into a frenzy, threatening the staff.

Arrangements for immersion of Ganesh idols reviewed.
Kurnool: District Collector S Satyanarayana instructed the officials concerned to ensure that the immersion of Ganesh idols goes smoothly on September 2.
The Collector reviewed the arrangements for idol immersion with the officials at a meeting in the Collectorate here on Wednesday.
Officials should be on high alert as Bakrid and immersion festivals are falling on the same day, he stated and added that people should be educated to celebrate the festivals in a peaceful atmosphere.
The Collector directed RDO D Hussain Saheb, DSP DV Ramana Murthy, Municipal Corporation Commissioner, Harinath Reddy and Ganesh Mahotsava Central Committee members to ensure that the immersion of idols should be done at one place.
Recalling the water scarcity at Kurnool-Cuddapah (KC) Canal during 1998 and 2002, the members said that water was stored for immersion by putting sand bags.
He directed the Irrigation department Superintending Engineer Chandrasekhar Rao to release water into KC Canal on September 1 so that the water will reach the immersion ghat on September 2.
Satyanarayana informed Harinath Reddy to complete the cleaning of KC Canal before water is released.
In the meeting, officials were told to install CCTV cameras, to provide uninterrupted power and continuous supply of drinking water to devotees, setting up first-aid centres and making cranes available for the immersion.
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During the meeting, senior citizens apprised former Minister about problems being faced by them in the area.
Jammu and Kashmir senior Congress leader and former minister, Raman Bhalla on Wednesday alleged the BJP- PDP collation government in the state failed to address aspirations of the people.
During the meeting, senior citizens apprised former Minister about problems being faced by them in the area.
While accusing BJP-PDP coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir of having failed to address the problems of the people, Bhalla said,”Since BJP-PDP joined hands; the miseries of the people of Jammu and Kashmir have increased manifolds.
“More than two years have passed but they have failed to fulfill any of the promises, be it the problems faced by the border residents, be it the problems faced by the farmers, be it the problems of refugees and Kashmiri Pandits, this government has done nothing to address those problems,” Bhalla added.
Formation of ULBs are must to empower the people of urban areas”, he said and added that in a democratic system it was necessary to make representative character of all democratic institutions to ensure people’s participation in these institutions.
The former minister blamed the PDP-BJP coalition for pushing Jammu and Kashmir into developmental inertia with utility services in disarray as a result of which the people are suffering on account of power and drinking water besides irregular supply of ration.
Terming the promises made by PDP-BJP government as “mere bluffs”, Bhalla said that voters are fed up with the “sheer opportunism” of these two parties.
“Congress Party has always defeated the autocratic behavior of those who believe in suppressing or oppressing and victimizing the masses or opponents while in power”, he added.
Police today foiled an attempt of liquor smuggling and arrested three bootlegger besides recovering 122 pouches of liquor from his possession.

Kenya enacts world’s toughest plastic bag ban.
Deforestation.
Political corruption.
Human rights violations.
Income inequality.
Poaching.
Water scarcity and poor sanitation.
Kenya continues to face a slew of formidable challenges as the economy of this East African nation — home to upwards of 48 million people, most of them living in deep poverty — grows at a furious clip.
But none of these large-scale issues have been subject to a crackdown quite like the manufacture, distribution and use of plastic shopping bags.
Following a 10-year, three-try crusade to put the kibosh on plastic bags once and for all, a tough-as-nails ban on landfill-clogging throwaway carriers took effect earlier this week after being announced in March.

Flyovers on BC Road, Jewel Chowk in offing: Jugal.
JAMMU: Member Parliament Jammu-Poonch Constituency, Jugal Kishore Sharma said that BJP is committed to the welfare of public and the Central Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is very particular to mitigate the sufferings of the people in every aspect.
This was stated by Jugal Kishore while interacting with the public and BJP activists during the public Darbar held here at Party Headquarters.
While expressing his views, the Member Parliament said that the focus has been laid on the all round development of Jammu city with an increased effort to bring centrally sponsored projects here.
He claimed that he has taken the issue of flyovers on BC Road near Amphalla and Jewel Chowk on priority and soon the Jammuites will be gifted with the same.
Jugal said that BJP has decided to provide all the administrative and other facilities at the door step of Jammu people and particularly at the time, when the Civil Secretariat has shifted to Srinagar as summer capital.
He said that the aim of conducting this programme is to address public grievances at grass root level and BJP will conduct these type of programmes on a regular basis where public can come and approach for any type of problem.
They presented the problems like water scarcity, upgradation of lanes, laying of roads, bridges, electricity, etc.
Jugal sorted out many of their problems on the spot by telephonically interacting with the competent authority and forwarded the others to concerned departments with written instructions for their quick disposal.
Suraj Singh, Baldev Singh Billawaria, Dr. Pardeep Mahotra, Vinay Mahajan, Harbans Choudhary, Dr. Dineshwar Sharma and Jagdev Toofani were also present.

The Middle East and North Africa region loses about $21 billion each year because of an inadequate supply of water and sanitation, the World Bank said Tuesday, warning that urgent action is needed to prevent ripple effects on stability and growth.
"As the current conflict and migration crisis unfolding in the Middle East and North Africa shows, failure to address water challenges can have severe impacts on people’s well-being and political stability," the report said.
Overall, 183 million people lack access to basic drinking water in countries affected by conflict, violence and instability around the world, it added.
Better management With the urban population in the Middle East and North Africa expected to double by 2050 to nearly 400 million, a combination of policy, technology and water management tools should be used to improve the water situation, the World Bank report said.
"Water productivity — in other words, how much return you get for every drop of water used — in the Middle East in general is the lowest on average in the world," said Anders Jägerskog, a specialist in water resources management at the World Bank and one of the report’s authors.
To reverse the trend, technology and innovation are "essential but not enough," Jägerskog told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Water governance — in particular, water tariffs and subsidies — must also be addressed, he said.
The region has the world’s lowest water tariffs and spends the highest proportion of GDP on public water subsidies.
Such policies lead to excessive use of already scarce water supplies and are not sustainable, said Jägerskog.
Untreated wastewater Another challenge is that more than half of the wastewater collected in the region is fed back into the environment untreated.

International environmental reporting and data non-profit CDP has released new research in partnership with global infrastructure firm AECOM revealing that $9.5 billion worth of city water projects are now open for investment.
Released for World Water Week (27 August – 1 September) the new infographic report, Who’s Tackling Urban Water Challenges?, shows the first-ever comprehensive dataset of global water action by cities and companies produced.
Using information gathered from 569 cities and 1,432 companies, each reporting their water management activity, it illustrates how global cities and companies are responding to the escalating challenge of climate change and water security.
Regions most concerned about their water supply lie in Asia and Oceania (84 percent), with significant risks also identified in Africa (80 percent) and Latin America (75 percent).
Together with $14 billion of water impacts reported from companies, such as loss of production last year, 62 percent of cities are now working with companies to address water and climate change issues with 80 cities seeking $9.5 billion for 89 water management projects.
Water investment opportunities are greatest in Latin America ($6.7 billion), where Quito, Ecuador is looking for $800 million to manage their water supply.
The city aims to build three hydropower stations and address the contamination of 246km of Quito’s rivers and streams.
We are seeing critical shifts in leadership from cities and companies in response to the very real threat of flooding, for example, to local economies.
Combined with innovation and financial capital, this puts the tipping point for a sustainable economy in reach, and this data shows how important investors are in making this happen,” said Morgan Gillespy, Head of CDP’s Water Program.
“In thinking about the immediate flooding and future water scarcity issues through a resilience lens, we are helping cities to address issues of socio-economic disparity and environmental justice, in addition to solving their technical challenges.” Explore how cities and companies are acting on water, the CDP infographic report ‘Who’s tackling urban water challenges’, with case studies and full data available at www.cdp.net/cities.

ALEPPO, Syria — In a bid to facilitate the return of Syrian refugees in Turkey to their homes, the Turkish government has been making considerable efforts to reconstruct and rehabilitate the destroyed Syrian areas that were liberated during Operation Euphrates Shield, a cross-border military operation launched by Turkey in partnership with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) on Aug. 24, 2016, against the Islamic State (IS) in northern Syria.
The city has been given a face-lift.
According to a statistical report by the information office of al-Bab’s local council, which Al-Monitor secured a copy of, the population of al-Bab has reached 150,000 people.
Ammar Nassar, the information office director, told Al-Monitor, “The local council aims at developing all service sectors in the city for the well-being of the citizens as well as to encourage the thousands of the city’s citizens living in Turkey to return home.” “Since its formation [in March], the local council has made major achievements: The rubble was completely removed from the city; the water and sanitation networks that were destroyed were repaired; and artesian wells were also drilled in several locations inside and in the outskirts of the city to get safe drinking water.
Since the Syrian regime forces took control of the station in Aleppo’s eastern countryside on March 7, driving IS out, the regime made sure to cut off the water line toward the FSA-held city of al-Bab, causing a major water crisis.
Meanwhile, IS had turned most of the city’s schools into military headquarters and weapons caches.
Education in the city of al-Bab is a top priority for the Turkish-backed local council; the increasing population in the city means more children need to go to school.
Ahmed Karaz, the head of the local council’s education office, told Al-Monitor, “Ten schools out of 30 have been reconstructed and rehabilitated.
The Turkish government has also provided schools with furniture, stationery as well as school bags.
The Turkish government has also renovated Al-Hikma Hospital, providing additional medical equipment so that it can continue to offer temporary services for patients until the large hospital Turkey is building on the city’s outskirts is completed.