The National Green Tribunal on Wednesday pulled up the Uttar Pradesh Government and State Water Board for their failure to provide drinking water and related lack of healthcare in six districts of the State.
The Bench chaired by Swatanter Kumar was hearing a plea refering to an analysis report filed by UP Government which said that arsenic was 4,000 times in excess than the permissible limits in the villages of Baghpat and the neighbouring districts. The six districts in the State under the scanner of NGT include Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad and Saharanpur districts.
The green panel directed the Government to consult Central Ground Water Authority and conduct scientific analysis of water in all the six districts suffering from water pollution and submit a report before the next date of hearing on October 21.
The Bench however especially questioned the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Baghpat on the steps taken by him to medically examine people affected by drinking arsenic contaminated water.
The panel queried whether blood samples from the residents were taken and the symptoms of their diseases analysed. It even went ahead to say to the CMO, "You have no respect for human lives." The petitioner had claimed that farmers and poor villagers were facing health hazards as they were forced to drink highly contaminated ground water in these six districts.
In the light of the above situations, the green panel directed the removal of hand pumps releasing contaminated groundwater in the affected areas. It ordered the respective district administration to ensure availability of clean potable water to villagers.