Nearly 40 years after the Bhopal gas disaster, clean water remains a distant pipedream for residents in 42 neighbourhoods near the Union Carbide factory, despite Supreme Court orders.
On Friday, Bhopal District Legal Services Authority secretary Sunit Agrawal led an inspection of 19 neighbourhoods. The visit came in pursuance of Supreme Court orders dated August 30, 2018.
In 2004, the apex court had ordered piped clean water for 14 settlements after groundwater contamination by heavy metals, pesticides, and persistent organic pollutants was confirmed near the factory.
A 2012 report found eight more localities contaminated. By 2018, 20 additional settlements had tainted groundwater, prompting the court to expand orders for water pipelines, sewage construction, and quarterly public water reports.
A Supreme Court monitoring committee, led by the MP State Legal Services Authority chairman—a serving High Court judge—was established in 2012. It includes officials from the civic body, pollution board, and gas victim groups.
Thursday’s inspection found clear violations. Activists showed evidence that residents in Arif Nagar and Anna Nagar still receive water from tubewells in contravention of court orders, said noted gas activist Rachna Dhingra in a brief circulated to the media.
In colonies like Blue Moon, Shiv Shakti Nagar, and Nawab Colony, pipelines were either found broken or ran through drains, forcing people to drink foul water. Several areas still lack basic water connections.
Despite instructions to provide free piped water to pre-2012 homes, local authorities have failed to do so in Kainchi Chhola, Kalyan Nagar, and Futa Maqbara.
Water samples were collected by the Public Health Engineering Department and the Pollution Control Board. Activists submitted a detailed report with photos and videos showing 70 percent of neighbourhoods lack clean water.
This report will be submitted to the Supreme Court through the monitoring committee’s chairman, for hearing under the long-pending writ petition.