The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notices to 27 States, calling for a detailed report on the steps being taken by them to address the problem of excessive fluoride in drinking water. These States have been given six weeks time to respond.
Taking congnisance of a report ' >Huge population at fluorosis risk ' published on December 29 in The Hindu , the Commission has issued the direction to the Chief Secretaries of 27 States where fluoride content is above the permissible levels in drinking water.
As per a statement issued by the NHRC: “The Commission’s directions followed a presentation by the Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation before it on the January 20 on the problem of fluorosis in various States and short-term, medium-term and long-term solutions for mitigating the problem of contamination in drinking water.”
The Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has informed the NHRC that there are more than 1000 habitations affected by fluorosis in Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and more than 100 habitations affected in Bihar, Karnataka, Odisha, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Assam, Haryana, Uttaranchal, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.
“The Commission had taken suo motu cognizance of a media report alleging fluoride above permissible levels in drinking water in 14132 habitations in 19 States and had asked the Secretary, Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation to make a presentation on the gravity of the problem and the steps taken by the Central and various State Governments to combat it,” the NHRC statement read.
The Hindu had earlier reported that the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry fears that a huge population is at risk of serious health conditions such as skeletal fluorosis on account of drinking water contaminated by excessive levels of fluoride.