People of Haryana consuming slow poison in form of water: Kumari Selja

Published on: 29 Dec 2023 at 05:09 PM

Published by: The fact news

The Fact News Service

Chandigarh, December 29

The General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee and former Central Minister, Kumari Selja said that the BJP-JJP Alliance government has completely failed to provide clean drinking water to the people of the state.

The NGT report reveals that the level of arsenic and fluoride in drinking water is higher in some areas, indicating that people in 17 districts are drinking slow poison instead of potable water. Earlier, reports from CAG and Jal Jeevan Mission had also raised questions about the quality of drinking water in the state. In a statement released to the media, Kumari Selja said that among the 22 districts in the state, Ambala, Bhiwani, Faridabad, Jhajjar, Jind, Karnal, Panipat, Rohtak, Sirsa, Sonipat, Yamunanagar, Mahendragarh, Palwal, Panchkula, Rewari, and Kaithal have arsenic levels ranging from 0.05 to 0.50 milligrams and fluoride levels from two to five milligrams in their groundwater.

According to the World Health Organization standards, arsenic in drinking water should not exceed 0.01 milligrams per litre, and fluoride levels should not be more than 1.5 milligrams per litre.

She said that due to excessive intake of arsenic, the most serious illness that occurs is cancer. High consumption of arsenic leads to various diseases such as obesity, pain in the hands, feet, and lower back, stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea, irregular heartbeat, partial paralysis, blindness, and convulsions. Similarly, higher levels of fluoride in drinking water increase the likelihood of arthritis.

Kumari Selja said that a recent report from the CAG revealed that during 2016-21, 14 people in the state had died due to drinking contaminated water, with 2,901 cases of waterborne diseases reported.

“Out of 25 water samples, chlorine was absent in 23, indicating contamination. Previously, under the Jal Jeevan Mission, around 77,000 samples were collected from rural water sources, water supply points, as well as public and private water bodies. Out of these, testing of 20,194 samples found 13,828 to be unsatisfactory,” she said.

Among 5,126 water samples, higher quantities of arsenic, mercury, and uranium were found. The former Central Minister said that the state government spends around 1,700 crore rupees annually in the name of providing clean drinking water, yet failing to even add chlorine to the water. This suggests that the entire budget is being corrupted through mutual collusion among corrupt officials.

The grand claims made by the alliance government based on three major research reports have completely exposed their incompetence in providing the people of the state with their basic necessity of clean drinking water.

Selja said that the state government has failed in every aspect to provide basic amenities to the public, and all promises and claims made to the people have turned out to be hollow.