This information was shared in the Lok Sabha by Water Resources minister Harish Rawat in a reply to a question.
"According to a recent report of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), against an estimated generation of about 38254 million litres per day (mld) from the Class I and Class II towns of the country, the treatment capacity is available only for 11787 mld," he said.
"Central Water Commission has estimated average annual water availability in the country to be 1869 billion cubic metres. Due to rapid growth in population, industrialisation and changing lifestyle, the demand of water is increasing," he said.
In reply to another question, Rawat said that the ministry of drinking water and sanitation had informed that as on April 1, water in 184 districts in the country was affected by flouride, 154 districts were salinity affected and 80 districts are nitrate affected.
He also said that the health ministry data indicated that about 25 million people including 6 million children below the age of 14 were suffering from fluorosis. Sixty-six million people residing in endemic areas are at risk because the fluoride level in their drinking water is above permissible levels, he said.