The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued conditional summons to the State Government over deaths and deformities due to fluoride water in Nuapada district and directed it to submit the report within four weeks failing which the NHRC shall be constrained to invoke the provisions of Section 13 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993.
The NHRC has been informed by rights activist Radhakanta Tripathy who alleged that more than 50,000 villagers are forced to drink fluoride water that results in large scale sickness in the area.
Tripathy alleged that Radheshyam Kheti (33) of Khetipada hamlet died of fluorosis while the village has already witnessed five deaths in last one year all of whom were in their mid-forties. larka, a non-descript village of Nuapada district, is haunted by a silent killer fluorosis while officials of the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS) Department also confirmed this, Tripathy added.
When the permissible fluoride limit, as per WHO and BIS guideline, is one ppm in drinking water, the situation in the village is obviously threatening. According to reports, ground water in Boden had 1.5 per cent fluoride in per litre of water while in Palsipani and Dhamabhata villages under Komna block and Karlapat and Sukhalpur of Boden block, the fluoride content is much higher.
“The failure of the State Government in ensuring drinking water to these villagers amounts to serious violation of human rights. lack of health care to the victims of fluoride-contaminated drinking water worsens the situation,” the petitioner alleged, adding that, residents of Boden and Komna blocks of the district have to walk miles together in search of potable drinking water every summer.
He requested the commission to immediately send experts to assess the situation and make a comprehensive recommendation and monitor the situation till all the affected villagers get safe drinking water.
He urged the NHRC to direct the Health department to provide free treatment to the victims of fluoride water and rehabilitate them with compensation.