Meerut: The National Green Tribunal ( NGT ) has directed the Uttar Pradesh government to seal all the hand pumps and bore wells which are drawing water contaminated with mercury in six districts of west UP.The green panel’s direction came days after a special committee found that hundreds of hand pumps and bore wells in the six districts were drawing water which had traces of mercury in it.The direction was given by NGT chairman Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel on a petition filed by an NGO, Doaba Paryavaran Samiti (DPS). The special committee, which carried out the survey, was formed four months ago after the NGO brought up the matter of ground water pollution.Interestingly, hundreds of hand pumps were sealed in 2016 for drawing contaminated water. The order to seal the pumps was passed by the green panel in 2015. The Jal Nigam had to face the NGT’s ire for its failure to comply with the 2015 order.However, in spite of flagging and sealing of the hand pumps for releasing contaminated water, the menace did not end there. The petition filed by the NGO claimed that several pumps and tube wells in west UP were still releasing water contaminated with mercury. The green panel then formed the committee to look into the matter four months ago.Gaurav Bansal, lawyer for the NGO, said, “People of the six districts of west UP are forced to drink mercury-mixed water leading to serious health problems like Cancer, Hepatitis B, and other deadly diseases. The fresh survey, which has found mercury contamination in the water of hand pumps and bore wells, only mean two things. Either the state government followed the order properly in 2016, but the ground water pollution is so rampant that even the new hand pumps also got affected. Or the order of sealing of hand pumps was not followed honestly,” said Bansal.In January this year, the NGT had ordered “intensive survey” of the Kali, Krishna and the Hindon rivers in western UP after a plea alleged that 50 villagers have died of cancer in the region. The court also directed inspection of 316 industries which are allegedly polluting the water bodies.A bench headed by acting Chairperson Justice U D Salvi had also constituted a committee comprising officials from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), state pollution control board, UP Jal Nigam to jointly inspect and carry out survey of the rivers and groundwater in six districts in the western part of the state.

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