Sanitation and Disease

1.6     SANITATION AND DISEASE
          Poor sanitation and contaminated drinking water is the cause of a large number of diseases. A very large fraction of our population defecates in the open, on dry riverbeds, on railway tracks, near fields and many a time directly in water. Untreated human              excreta is a health hazard. It may cause water pollution and soil pollution. Both the surface water and groundwater get polluted. Groundwater is a source of water for wells, tubewells, springs and many rivers.It becomes the most common route for water              borne diseases like cholera, typhoid, polio, meningitis, hepatitis and dysentery.