The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sought a report from the Odisha Chief Secretary and the Health Secretary regarding fluoride water and consequential problems faced by lakhs of residents of Nuapada district.
The NHRC also directed for thorough probe at an appropriate level and submit the action taken report in the light of response received from the petitioner with eight weeks. The persistent pressure has been built upon the State Government by two separate petitions one in 2013 another in 2014 filed by Supreme Court lawyer and rights activist Radhakanta Tripathy. Subsequently, when the Collector and the action of the NHRC could not satisfy the petitioner, he filed another case citing deaths and deformities due to fluoride water in the district.
The situation is so severe that lakhs of villagers are forced to drink fluoride water that results in large scale sickness.
Again the NHRC sought an ATR from the Chief Secretary. When in both the cases the authorities failed to file their replies, the NHRC warned them coercive action under Section 13 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 in the fag end of 2015. Subsequently, the Chief Secretary filed a report stating that a mega project has been undertaken to ensure safe drinking water and also to treat the existing system of water supply.
Tripathy in his rejoinder stated that the Government in order to hoodwink the courts and commissions promise many things in paper but in reality they don’t fulfill the promises or execute it at a snail’s pace. The Government report admits that 387 other such villages out of total 644 villages of Nuapada , almost 60 per cent are partially or fully affected by high fluoride content in water.
Out of 6,153 tube wells in the district 1,752 tube wells located in 906 habitations of the district are not usable due to more than 2.00 pm fluoride content. Residents of Boden and Komna blocks of the district have to walk miles for potable drinking water every summer. While the permissible limit of fluoride in water is 0.5 to 1 mg per litre, as per a survey done by Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS), the groundwater in Boden has thre mg fluoride content per litre. Excess fluoride content in drinking water leads to physical deformities, the most common being skeletal fluorosis.
The National Cancer Institute’s toxicological programme reveals that fluoride can cause cancer, the petition pointed out.
Tripathy requested the NHRC to send a team of experts to assess the situation and make a comprehensive recommendation and monitor the situation , direct the State Health Department to provide free and adequate treatment to the patients or victims of fluoride water and rehabilitate them with compensation.
Taking serious note of the lethargic attitude of the State Government the NHRC should monitor the case till the last victim of unsafe drinking water gets justice, he stated.