Water and sanitation

Sri Lanka faces a challenging road ahead: rebuilding damaged infrastructure, restoring health services, and ensuring clean water access are urgent priorities.

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that floods significantly raise the risk of vector-borne, food-borne and water-borne diseases, urging communities to prevent mosquito bites, ensure food safety and use safe drinking water wherever possible.

It demands not just emergency medical resources, but long-term planning – from urban infrastructure to water governance – to break the cycle of mosquito-borne disease.

Funding is not allocated specifically for fluoride-affected areas but is provided for the overall provision of safe tap water, the minister said.

This marks a substantial leap from August 2019, when only 3.23 crore rural households (just 16.7 per cent) had access to tap water, the minister of state for jal shakti, V Somanna said in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on Thursday.

Kabul, Afghanistan’s sprawling capital, finds itself on the edge of an unprecedented crisis: according to a recent Mercy Corps report, the city’s underground water reserves could be entirely depleted by 2030.

From inadequate rescue equipment and poor inter-agency coordination to health vulnerabilities and absent local representatives, the Kathmandu Valley is staring down a potentially dangerous monsoon season.

With reduced aid, already fragile services are deteriorating, and local efforts to compensate remain insufficient.