World Water Day: India

An Indian girl carries a pot of drinking water collected from a public tap, on the eve of World Water Day in Bangalore, India, March 21, 2012.

The U.N. estimates that more than one in six people worldwide do not have access to five to 13 gallons of safe freshwater a day to ensure their basic needs for drinking, cooking and cleaning.

An Indian boy drinks water from a roadside tap on the eve of World Water Day in Allahabad, India, March 21, 2013.

Ten percent of worldwide diseases could be prevented by improvements related to drinking water, sanitation, hygiene, and use of environmental management and health impact assessments, according to the 2012 U.N. World Water Development Report.

An Indian farmer carries water to irrigate cucumber plants on the eve of World Water Day in Allahabad, India, March 21, 2013.

Agriculture is the greatest user of water.

An Indian woman holds her child as she carries a pot of drinking water collected from a public tap, at a slum area on the eve of World Water Day in Bangalore, India, March 21, 2012.

An Indian woman washes clothes at a public tap, on the eve of World Water Day in Allahabad, India, March 21, 2013.

An Indian boy searches for coins in a polluted stream along the Brahmaputra River on the eve of World Water Day in Gauhati, India, March 21, 2013.

Indian boys play cricket near a partially dried area of Brahmaputra River on the eve of World Water Day in Gauhati, India, March 21, 2013.

Desertification, land degradation and drought affects 1.5 billion, mostly poor, people around the world who depend on degrading areas, according to the 2012 U.N. World Water Development Report. India alone accounts for 26 percent of the population affected by these issues.

Indian women wash themselves at a public tap, on the eve of World Water Day in Allahabad, India, March 21, 2013.

People return after collecting water at a slum area on the eve of World Water Day in Ahmadabad, India, March 21, 2013.

An Indian farmer fetches water from a pond to irrigate his cucumber plants on the eve of World Water Day in Allahabad, India, March 21, 2013.

An Indian boy walks on bamboo poles as he arrives to search for coins in a polluted stream along the Brahmaputra River on the eve of World Water Day in Gauhati, India, March 21, 2013.

Indian women collect water at a slum area on the eve of World Water Day in Ahmadabad, India, March 21, 2013.

An Indian woman fills drinking water from a public tap, on the eve of World Water Day in Allahabad, India, March 21, 2013.

Indian women collect drinking water from a public tap at a slum area on the eve of World Water Day in Bangalore, India, March 21, 2012.

An Indian girl returns after collecting water at a slum area on the eve of World Water Day in Ahmadabad, India, March 21, 2013.