NEW YORK CITY (TIP): The Consul General of India in New York Ambassador Dnyaneshwar M Mulay and Democratic District Leader Uma Sengupta (D-Flushing), on Monday, December 15, 2014, held a Sustainable Water Summit to provide solutions to water pollution globally and to launch projects in India that will bring clean drinkable water systems to India’s underserved communities.

Water pollution is a growing environmental and health issue in India. As the majority of rivers, lakes and surface water in India are increasingly becoming more polluted, many rural and improvised areas in the region are depleted of their resources and children and families are unable to have access to clean drinking water.

Consulate General Dnyaneshwar Mulay and Hon. Uma Sengupta (D-Flushing) launched the “Give me water” project that will extract the well water in villages to give rural areas access to fresh and clean drinkable water all year around. The project will start in the South 24 Parganas district inWest Bengal, India. In a study conducted in 20 villages, 30% of the children residing in the South 24 Parganas district are inflicted by water borne diseases. In these villages, residents only have access to water 2 hours a day and have to walk long distances to obtain water for bathing, cooking and other uses.

“The world’s biggest long-term challenge is working to address the problem of a global water scarcity. Access to fresh and clean readily-available drinking water is a basic human right and we need to make sure all communities are provided water in a healthy and sustainable way,” said District Leader Uma Sengupta (D-Flushing). On February 14, 2014, Hon. Uma Sengupta (D-Flushing) will travel to India to provide clean water systems to four villages in South 24 Parganas district who are suffering from a drinking water shortage.

The policy forum also included presentations from New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) President Ram Raju, Councilman Paul Vallone (D-Bayside) and Miss Connecticut 2014 Jewel of India Roopa Modha who discussed how local, city and transnational efforts can help form international policies that promote environmental protection, sustainability, health and wellness in India, the United States and countries affected by water pollution and water scarcity.