Prevalence of waterborne diseases and drinking water quality in the tribal’s areas of Garhwal Himalayas Uttarakhand, India: An awareness programme and mitigation approaches
184-206The livelihood strategies of the tribal communities are diverse from other
communities as the ecological surrounding area, population size,
language, physical features and level of development vary in the
scheduled tribe’s categories. A tribal population in Uttarakhand resides in
long Tarai and far-flung remote hilly regions, where livelihood and
development are a matter of hardship. In fact, the basic health facilities,
sensitization about quality drinking water and many more are in
adequate. The tribe’s areas are most neglected and highly vulnerable to
diseases with a high degree of malnutrition, morbidity and mortality.
Their misery is compounded by poverty, illiteracy, ignorance of the
causes of diseases, hostile environment, poor sanitation, lack of safe
drinking water and blind beliefs, etc. Water from the different sources is
being polluted by different means such as domestic waste, weathering of
rocks, anthropogenic activities and sewage effluents, etc., which affect
the physicochemical and biological properties of water, which ultimately
create havoc among the tribes by many water-borne diseases
