NGT raps UP govt over potable water, directs chief secretary to ensure clean water in Kanpur

The National Green Tribunal Friday pulled up the Uttar Pradesh government over its failure to provide potable water to residents of Kanpur and directed the state's Chief Secretary to ensure availability of clean water at the earliest.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel took note of a water sample from a hand pump in Kanpur's Khan Chandpur area and asked the Central Pollution Control Board to analyse it.

It asked the Chief Secretary to ensure that untreated sewage is not discharged in the Ganga river and pending a permanent solution, "at least temporary arrangement by way of phytoremediation, bio-remediation or any other technology is done to disinfect/ treat water before the same is discharged into the river".

It also directed the Chief Secretary to initiate necessary action against the Principal Secretary, Urban Development, UP Jal Nigam and state pollution control board for their illegal action in permitting discharge of untreated sewage and effluent directly into Ganga.

The order came after perusing two reports filed by Justice Arun Tandon, former Judge of the Allahabad High Court, who had been appointed as head of a Committee to oversee the compliance of Ganga cleaning.

Justice Tandon along with the representatives of the National Mission for Clean Ganga, the CPCB, state pollution control board, UP Jal Nigam and the local residents of the area, visited the sites and noticed the status of the Rania and Rakhi Mandi in Kanpur.

Taking strong note of the report, the tribunal said, "The above report is self-speaking and paints a grim picture of failure of the authorities in taking remedial measures, forcing the inhabitants to drink polluted water which is a serious hazard to the health.

"...access to potable drinking water is a guaranteed fundamental right and inalienable duty of the State. The State has clearly failed in doing so in the present case. As suggested in the report, it is necessary to require remedial measures to be taken especially with regard to supply of drinking water to the affected inhabitants in the area.