Zone wise Knowledge Disparities about Water Pollution and its Mitigation Strategies Among Farming Families of Punjab, India

Water is one of our most important natural resources. More than 2.2 million people died every year primarily in developing countries due to water borne diseases. Polluted water can cause many diseases like cholera, typhoid, diarrhoea etc. The present study entitled ‘Zone wise Knowledge Disparities about Water Pollution and its Mitigation Strategies among Farming Families of Punjab, India' was conducted with the objectives to assess the knowledge level of farming families about causes, effects and mitigation practices for water pollution and to study the application of mitigation strategies by them. Data was collected from five agro-climatic zones i.e. central plain zone, sub-mountain undulating zone, undulating plain zone, western plain zone and western zone of Punjab state. From each of the selected agro climatic zone, fifteen farm families were selected randomly, the male and female heads of the family were chosen for responses, thus, in total 150 respondents were randomly selected. Data was collected using pre-tested structured interview schedule and a knowledge test. The data was analyzed using frequencies and percentages. The findings of the study revealed that most of the respondents had medium level of knowledge about causes and effects of water pollution as well majority of the respondents across all agro-climatic zones had medium level of knowledge for mitigation of water pollution. It is further found that zone wise, most of the respondents of agro-climatic zone IV (Western plain zone) had low level of knowledge for mitigation of water pollution. Comparatively, zone I (Sub-mountain undulating zone) and zone V (Western zone) were following maximum strategies to reduce water pollution. Other zones needed to be given more attention while imparting knowledge about water pollution. It is suggested that people could be sensitized to take serious action to mitigate the effects of water pollution using innovative behaviour change communication strategies.