APARESH KUMAR SINGH,J. - (1.) Heard learned counsel for the parties.
(2.) On the basis of a newspaper report published in the Hindi daily 'Prabhat Khabar' on 17th June 2016 portraying an alarming situation of several deaths having taken place due to incidence of excess fluoride in potable water in the areas around village Pratappur in the district of Garhwa, this Court took suo-motu cognizance of the matter. The instant PIL thereafter commenced. Report was also called for and received from the Principal District and Sessions Judge, Garhwa on 21st June 2016 which confirmed the fears of populace being affected by excess fluoride in drinking water. The symptoms of fluorosis were found in the residents of that area which caused serious disorder to the bone and skeleton system. National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur ('NEERI' for short) also submitted a report on 2nd May 2017 after inspecting the affected villages and collecting samples of water. They also found high concentration of fluoride in the water samples from Pratappur village. The ground water was found to be highly contaminated with fluorides. The water drawn from these regions required effective purification before being fit for use in drinking and cooking purposes. They also found 9 out of 12 de-fluoridation units non-functional and delivering water with high fluoride concentration than the permitted value. They recommended restoration of these units or to opt for a totally different treatment option based on a technical feasibility study. They also found and recommended removal of iron found in higher concentration from the water in these regions. As an interim measure, they suggested the concerned authorities to make alternative arrangements for supply of water from areas that are less affected by fluoride, such as Patsa or Darmi or any other area till an effective water treatment technology is applied.
(3.) On 5th May 2017 this Court took note of various issues relating to supply of clean drinking water to the areas in Pratappur Panchayat. It also took note of the report of NEERI. National Human Rights Commission also had issued direction to the Chief Secretary in this regard. The Court, taking serious note of the lack of proper supply of pure drinking water to the people of Pratappur Panchayat, directed the Chief Secretary to file a detailed affidavit in the matter. The order dated 5th May 2017 is being reproduced hereunder:- "Heard learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and learned counsel for the respondents. Mr. Amit Kumar Sinha, learned amicus curiae submits that in the State of Jharkhand, all things are done on pen and paper and there is no action on ground. Even to supply drinking water in Pratappur area in the District of Garhwa, one electric line is necessary and the State Government is obtaining 'no objection certificate' from the East Central Railway and till now they have applied for the same. He submits from the record that 'National Human Rights Commission' also directed the Chief Secretary, State of Jharkhand to file an application before the concerned Railway authority for obtaining 'no objection certificate' but no action has been taken and the matter is lingering from the year 2011. It appears that still no application has been filed by the State Government. Counter-affidavit has been filed by the respondent Nos.1 and 2 to the effect that 'the fluoride removal attachment is functioning well, the filtered water is having 0.29- 0.57 PPM fluoride only'. Counter-affidavit dated 25.01.2017 filed by the respondents and the report of the Deputy Commissioner, Garhwa dated 5.08.2016 attached to the said affidavit also reveals that fresh drinking water is also supplied through tankers on daily basis and there is no electric supply in Pratapur Panchayat that is why pump house is being run on a hired Diesel generator set (DG set). Drinking Water and Sanitation Department has also issued a tender for procuring the DG Set of 63 KVA. Shortly the DG set will be procured. He further submits that very recently report of the 'NEERI' (National Environmental Engineering and Research Institute) has been filed. In the said report, it is stated that sample was collected by NEERI between 15 to 18 March, 2017 and the report was prepared by NEERI after examining the water quality in their laboratory. In the said report, it has been mentioned in Paras 2, 3 and 4 which are as follows:- "2.Among 12 de-fluoridation units installed, 9 were observed to be ineffective and deliver water having high fluoride concentration than the permitted value (Table 3). There is need to restore the performance of these units or opt for totally different option based on a technical feasibility study. 3. Removal of iron from water in these regions is important, as iron is found in higher concentrations when compared to the drinking water permissible limit (300 ug/L). 4. As interim measure till appropriate treatment technologies are deployed for water treatment, for supply of safe drinking water to people in Pratappur village and other effected areas the concerned authorities should make alternative arrangements for supplying water from areas that are less affected by fluoride, for example Patsa or Darmi or any other area that may be a safe source of drinking water." He also relies upon the report of the District Judge, Garhwa dated 21st June, 2016, as directed by this Court. In the said report it has been mentioned that the local persons have stated that the quality of construction is up to the mark because of which there are leakages in the joints of the pipe line as well as in the over head water reservoir (Elevated Service Reservoir or ESR) cannot take and retain water to its full capacity. It was also complained that the supply has never been regular and even the day of the visit the pump was being operated after a gap of more than a month. The village Pratappur is in the south western side of Pratappur Panchayat and is the farthest area from the source of water. Water is lifted from North Koel River at Darmi village. The place for installation of pump house and treatment plant was provided by the local body at Darmi village. The water reservoir (ESR) is at a distance of about 2 Kms from this pump house and from the reservoir, the worst affected area Monahi tola, Bhainsmarwa Tola, Gatiyahi Tola is further 2 Kms. away. Supply of electricity is another hindrance and there is no electric supply in almost entire Pratapur Panchayat. The pump house is being run on a hired Diesel Generator Set (DG set) of 62.5 KVA capacity. The DG set is sufficient to bear the load of running both the pumps of the pump house. The submersible pump immersed in the bed of river is operated in the first cycle and the lifted water is stored in the sump and subsequent thereto after switching off the first pump the second pump is run to supply water to the ESR. There are filter plants installed in the pump house but they were in use being old and in dilapidate condition and thus, only sediment free water is supplied through the system. Supply of electricity is another hindrance and it was also reported that the step down transformer installed at the pump house needs 11000 volts of electricity supply to provide adequate voltage for running the pumps but the railway track needs to be abridged for supply of 11000 volts through high tension wires. From the documents supplied by the State government, it does reveal that drinking water is supplied through pump set and tube wells and pure drinking water is also supplied through tanker and from both report of the Principal District Judge, Garhwa and the report of the NEERI, this Court comes to the conclusion that no pure drinking water is supplied to the people who reside at Pratapur Panchayat. All the work are on pen and paper. Even the Chief Secretary, State of Jharkhand is taking any step to supervise or to control the problems of Panchayatpur Panchayat in spite of letter issued by the Human Rights Commission. This is the sorry state of affair of drinking water in Pratappur Panchayat. Only on pen and paper drinking water is supplied to the Pratappur Panchayat. In spite of notice issued by this Court on 17th June, 2016 and orders of this Court time to time no serious effort has been put by the State. The Chief Secretary is carrying out the direction of the 'National Human Rights Commission, and therefore, this Court directs the Chief Secretary to file detail personal affidavit in the matter on or before 9th May, 2017. This Court appreciates the work done by NEERI. List this case on 10th May, 2017. Let a free copy of this order be handed over to Mr. Amit Kumar Sinha, learned amicus curiae as well as to Mr. Rajesh Kumar, learned G.P. V for doing needful.";