ABSTRACT
According to the 2011 census, Maharashtra has nearly 23.8 million households, with 13 million living in rural areas and 10.8 million households in urban areas. About 68% of them have access to tap water sources and 50% to improved latrines. The corresponding fi gures in rural areas are about 50% and 35%, respectively. Obviously, the progress in the rural areas is far from being satisfactory. But still these fi gures are a marked improvement from the year 2001, when only about 45.5% and 18% of the rural households had access to tap water and any type of latrine facility, respectively. Further, there is some improvement in the proportion of rural households having drinking water available within their premises (increased from 38.9% in 2001 to 42.9% in 2011).
