Rights panel issues notice to Faridabad civic body, CMO

Bijendra Ahlawat
Tribune News Service
Faridabad, April 9

Taking cognisance of the report ‘73% water samples fail test in Faridabad’ in these columns on Tuesday, the Haryana Human Rights Commission (HHRC) has issued a notice to the municipal corporation (MC) and Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for a detailed report.

It has fixed the hearing for May 16. In an order issued on Tuesday, HHRC chairperson Justice SK Mittal and members Justice KC Puri and Deep Bhatia, termed the issue as a serious violation of human rights of a large number of people.

“Taking suo motu cognisance of the matter, the commission sought a detailed report from the MC and CMO,” read the order. “The supply of pure and clean water is the fundamental right of every resident, but the MC appears to have failed to deliver,” read the notice.

The Health Department had collected 990 samples from tubewells and booster pumps between January 1 and April 5 to check if water was properly chlorinated. Officials had found that only 263 samples were chlorinated, with 727 failing the test. When contacted, DR Bhaskar, MC Chief Engineer, claimed that water supplied from MC tubewells was safe as its source was the underground water table and not surface water, which required chlorination.