originally posted on October 24, 2016

The National Green Tribunal has slammed the Uttar Pradesh government for not dismantling six hand pumps providing contaminated water in the western part of the State.

After receiving several petitions of contaminated water being provided by hand pumps in six districts of western U.P., last year the environmental watchdog ordered the State government to completely seal and dismantle them.

In its order on Friday, the NGT gave the State government five days to file compliance report.

These hand pumps are in Ghaziabad, Shamli, Saharanpur, Meerut, Baghpat and Muzaffarnagar districts.

The NGT order came in response to a petition field by an NGO, Doaba Paryavaran Samiti (DPS), which took several water samples from these hand pumps and got them tested.

The tests revealed presence of toxic metals way beyond permissible limits in the drinking water.

Dr. C.V. Singh of the DPS told The Hindu that the scientific tests of the water samples revealed an “extremely disturbing picture of drinking water contamination.”

“In 2014, we had highlighted how several people living in villages located along the banks of Krishna, Kali and Hindon, are suffering from grave diseases like cancer. There is no life in the water of these rivers, thanks to the heavily toxic materials illegally released in them by the paper industry and slaughter houses. The water has been contaminated to the extent that it has become poisonous. And now through the seepage, the drinking water level of all these villages has been contaminated by the poisonous and toxic water of the three rivers,” said Dr. Singh.

Gaurav Bansal, the lawyer who filed the petition, told The Hindu that after he had approached the NGT, it formed a panel of all stakeholders like the Central and the State Pollution Control Boards and the State Jal Nigam.

“The local administration was asked to provide drinking water to these villages. But the situation on the ground has not changed much. You can understand it by the fact that simple things like dismantling of the water pumps has also not been done,” said Mr. Bansal.

These hand pumps are in Ghaziabad, Shamli, Saharanpur, Meerut, Baghpat and Muzaffarnagar