Kendrapara: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sought a report from the Chief Secretary and the Principal Secretary of the Department of Health and Family Welfare regarding fluoride contaminated water and the problems faced by the people of Nuapada district due to that.
The Commission asked the officials to conduct a thorough probe and submit an action taken report within eight weeks.
The state government came under pressure after two petitions were filed in 2013 and in 2014 by Supreme Court lawyer and human rights activist Radhakanta Tripathy.
When the steps taken by the Collector and the NHRC’s action did not satisfy the petitioner he filed another case citing the deaths and deformities due to fluoride contaminated water in Nuapada district.
He said the situation is serious and that lakhs of villagers are forced to drink fluoride-laced water resulting in widespread medical problems. This made the NHRC seek an ATR from the Chief Secretary.
When the authorities failed to file replies in both the cases, the NHRC warned them of action under Section 13 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, in 2015-end.
Subsequently, the Chief Secretary filed a report saying that a project had been launched to supply safe drinking water and to treat the water supplied through the existing supply system.
In his rejoinder Tripathy said governments in order to escape courts and commissions promise many things, but in reality it either vanishes or is executed at snail’s pace.
He pointed out that the government report admits that 387 villages of the 644 villages in Nuapada district – almost 60 per cent — are partially or fully affected by fluoride water.
Of the 6,153 tube wells in the district, 1752 are located in 906 habitations of the district, and are not usable due to a fluoride content of 2 pm.
Residents of Boden and Komna blocks of the district have to walk miles to get safe drinking water every summer.
While the permissible limit of fluoride in water is 0.5 to 1 mg a litre, as per a survey of the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS) department, the groundwater in Boden has 3 mg fluoride content per litre.
The excessive fluoride content in drinking water leads to physical deformities, the most common being skeletal fluorosis. The National Cancer Institute’s toxicological study says that fluoride can cause cancer, the petitioner pointed out.
Tripathy requested the NHRC to send a team of experts to assess the situation, make a comprehensive recommendation, monitor the situation and to direct the Odisha Health Department to provide free treatment to the victims of fluoride contaminated water and rehabilitate them.
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 added.
PNN