Provide clean drinking water in 6 districts: NGT to UP

The National Green Tribunal today directed the Uttar Pradesh government to immediately provide clean drinking water in six western districts of the state.
A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar directed the state chief secretary to provide potable water to Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad and Saharanpur, through water tankers.
"Alkalinity in water seems to be more than permissible limits. You have to check and analyse the situation there," the bench said.
The green panel had earlier directed Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board to inspect the quality of drinking water in these districts and file status report, saying it was a "serious and high risk" matter.

The tribunal was hearing a petition filed by NGO Doaba Paryavaran Samiti which alleged that people were forced to drink contaminated water in six districts of western Uttar Pradesh.
The NGO had alleged negligence on part of the state government and said that villagers and kids of school in six districts were forced to drink contaminated water.

"Even the water coming out of hand pumps is yellowish in colour and has poisonous substances like heavy metals which can cause dangerous and incurable diseases," the NGO had said.
The petitioner had claimed that samples of drinking water were collected randomly from different sites in all the districts of the state and some were from hand pumps situated around the industrial areas.

The NGO claimed that samples were also collected from the hand pumps located in the villages near the banks of the rivers which were analysed by recognised laboratories.
It said that analysis of water samples suggested high level of heavy metals while arsenic concentration was very high in the drinking ground water.