UN: South Asia Worst in World for Water Scarcity

Last year, 45 million children lacked access to basic drinking water services in South Asia, more than any other region, but UNICEF said services were expanding rapidly, with that number slated to be halved by 2030. Uma Shankar MISHRA / AFP/File
Last year, 45 million children lacked access to basic drinking water services in South Asia, more than any other region, but UNICEF said services were expanding rapidly, with that number slated to be halved by 2030. Uma Shankar MISHRA / AFP/File
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UN: South Asia Worst in World for Water Scarcity

Last year, 45 million children lacked access to basic drinking water services in South Asia, more than any other region, but UNICEF said services were expanding rapidly, with that number slated to be halved by 2030. Uma Shankar MISHRA / AFP/File
Last year, 45 million children lacked access to basic drinking water services in South Asia, more than any other region, but UNICEF said services were expanding rapidly, with that number slated to be halved by 2030. Uma Shankar MISHRA / AFP/File

More children in South Asia are struggling due to severe water scarcity made worse by the impacts of climate change than anywhere else worldwide, the United Nations said Monday.

"A staggering 347 million children under 18 are exposed to high or extremely high water scarcity in South Asia, the highest number among all regions in the world," the UN children's agency said in a report.

The eight-nation region, comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, is home to more than one-quarter of the world's children, AFP said.

"Climate change is disrupting weather patterns and rainfall, leading to unpredictable water availability," the UN said in its report.

The report cites poor water quality, lack of water and mismanagement such as over-pumping of aquifers, while climate change decreases the amount of water replenishing them.

"When village wells go dry, homes, health centers and schools are all affected," UNICEF added.

"With an increasingly unpredictable climate, water scarcity is expected to become worse for children in South Asia."

At the UN COP28 climate conference in December in Dubai, UNICEF said it will call for leaders "to secure a livable planet".

"Safe water is a basic human right," said Sanjay Wijesekera, UNICEF chief for South Asia.

"Yet millions of children in South Asia don't have enough to drink in a region plagued by floods, droughts and other extreme weather events, triggered increasingly by climate change".

Last year, 45 million children lacked access to basic drinking water services in South Asia, more than any other region, but UNICEF said services were expanding rapidly, with that number slated to be halved by 2030.

Behind South Asia was Eastern and Southern Africa, where 130 million children are at risk from severe water scarcity, the report added.



32 Go on Trial Over Fatal Hotel Fire in Türkiye

A fire truck is seen in front of a hotel, following a deadly fire, in the ski resort of Kartalkaya, in Bolu, Türkiye, January 21, 2025. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo
A fire truck is seen in front of a hotel, following a deadly fire, in the ski resort of Kartalkaya, in Bolu, Türkiye, January 21, 2025. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo
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32 Go on Trial Over Fatal Hotel Fire in Türkiye

A fire truck is seen in front of a hotel, following a deadly fire, in the ski resort of Kartalkaya, in Bolu, Türkiye, January 21, 2025. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo
A fire truck is seen in front of a hotel, following a deadly fire, in the ski resort of Kartalkaya, in Bolu, Türkiye, January 21, 2025. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo

Thirty-two people went on trial in Türkiye on Monday over a fire at a luxury ski resort hotel in January that killed 78 people, including 36 children, local media reported.

Entire families perished when the huge blaze swept through the Grand Kartal Hotel in the northern mountain resort of Kartalkaya in the early hours of January 21.

Questions have multiplied about fire safety measures at the hotel and victims' families allege that negligence contributed to the high death toll.

More than 130 people were injured and the 12-storey building was destroyed.

Thirteen of the defendants -- including senior officials at the hotel, the fire department and the city council -- face up to 1,998 years in prison each on 78 charges, including "manslaughter with possible intent" to kill, AFP reported.

Survivors and experts have said the hotel's fire alarm system did not work.

According to the indictment, the suspects facing manslaughter charges include the hotel's owner, managers and members of the board, the deputy mayor of Bolu city and two fire department officials.

Before the hearing, victims' families gathered outside Bolu high school, where the trial is taking place, carrying portraits of the deceased.

They read out a statement, alleging countless breaches of safety and attempts to conceal evidence.

"During the fire, the owners, managers and employees of the Grand Kartal Hotel failed to alert guests or activate the alarm system.

"They rushed to save their cars while our loved ones were suffocating in the smoke," they alleged.

"An inspection report drawn up just one month before the fire clearly showed a lack of fire safety measures but the hotel owners ignored it on the grounds that the measures would be too costly," they continued.

"We know that the authorities turned a blind eye to this negligence, that evidence was concealed and that the camera recordings were deleted."

At the time of the fire, the tourism ministry and Bolu city council blamed each other for the disaster.

Due to the large number of defendants and plaintiffs -- 210 civil parties, the Bolu High Criminal Court is sitting at the high school's sports hall.

Ozgur Ozel, leader of the main opposition CHP, would attend the hearing, the social-democratic party said.

The trial is expected to last two weeks.