About half of world's urban population to face water scarcity by 2050

26% of the world's population doesn't have access to safe drinking water

One third to nearly half of the global urban population will face water scarcity in 2050, and India will be among the worst affected countries, United Nations World Water Development Report 2023 has cautioned.

The report was launched on Tuesday, just a day before the start of the first major United Nations conference on water in over 45 years.

According to figures from 2020, 26 per cent of the world’s population -- two billion people -- did not have access to safely managed drinking water services, and an estimated 46 per cent -- 3.6 billion -- lacked access to safely