Bihar: NHRC Issues Notice To Govt Over Groundwater Contamination In 31 Out Of 38 Districts

The NHRC has issued notices to the chief secretary and secretary, public health engineering department, Bihar government, seeking a report within six weeks.

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New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission issued a notice to the Bihar Government over reports of groundwater contamination in 31 out of 38 districts in the state, said the officials on Friday, reported news agency PTI. 

The NHRC, in a statement, said that it took suo motu cognizance of a media report quoting the recent Bihar Economic Survey report 2021-22, tabled in the Assembly. 

“The Commission has observed that the content of the media report, if true, raises a serious issue of human rights violation,” it stated. 

As a result, the NHRC has issued notices to the chief secretary and secretary, public health engineering department, Bihar government, seeking a report within six weeks.

According to the report, in 31 of the 38 districts of the state, the “groundwater is contaminated with arsenic, fluoride and excessive iron”. These may be causing serious health hazards, including, problems related to liver and kidneys. According to the media report, in all these districts, the rural areas in particular are more impacted,” the statement said.

The report has sought for the safety measures that were taken to provide potable water in those districts and also the implementation of the scheme, ‘Har-Ghar-Jal-Nal-Yojana’. 

The statement further stated that the NHRC has asked the Bihar State Pollution Control Board to submit a report on random sampling of water. 

The media report, published on March 3, also stated that groundwater in 30,272 rural wards is "chemically contaminated". And, 4,742 rural wards in 14 districts situated along the Ganges are particularly affected by arsenic, 3,791 rural wards in 11 districts are affected by fluoride, and nine Koshi basin districts and a few areas in other districts have excessive iron, it added, as reported by PTI.