Public Defecation

Public Defecation

Half of India’s 1.2 billion people do not have access to a toilet. This means more than 600 million people are left with no choice but to practice open defecation (yep, that’s doing one’s business in streets and fields).

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Unwashed Hands

Unwashed Hands

As most kindergartners have been taught, washing your hands with soap prevents the spread of germs. But owing to a paucity of awareness among Indians, only 53 percent wash their hands after defecation, 38 percent wash before eating, and 30 percent wash before preparing food.

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The Ganges River

The Ganges River

Every 60 seconds, 1.1 million liters of raw sewage find their way into the 1,560-mile Ganges River, a waterway considered holy by Hindus. The river plays a significant part in the lives of locals: As children frolic in the muck, another 400 million adults earn income through the river—from clothes washers to funeral home workers who dispose human ashes in it.

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Diarrhea

Diarrhea

Many people think of diarrhea as just an unpleasant nuisance, but globally, it’s the second-biggest killer of children under five. In India alone, the disease kills 1,600 citizens per day.

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Gender Injustice

Gender Injustice

Toilet access has become a civic issue in the South Asian nation. A 2009 study found that in the national capital, New Delhi, 1,534 public toilets serve men. How about women? Only 132. The New York Times reports that females living in villages often go in groups at dawn to avoid taunting and sexual assault.

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