Close on the heels of the death of several children in a Gorakhpur hospital, a plea was mentioned before a Bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar, with allegations of contaminated groundwater and rise in encephalitis cases in the city.
Potable water
Advocates Sanjay Upadhyaya and Om Prakash mentioned the matter before the Bench and said that municipal bodies have failed to perform their statutory obligations in the Gorakhpur district. While the court directed them to file a proper plea in this regard, the lawyers raised the issue of high contents of fluoride, iron and arsenic in the potable water.
They maintained that ineffective handling of waste by the municipal bodies is causing various water and vector-borne diseases in the district — including encephalitis, jaundice and typhoid.
