Provide list of polluting industries in West Uttar Pradesh: NGT to UPPCB

NEW DELHI: The National Green Tribunal has directed the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board ( UPPCB) to provide the list of industries which were allegedly polluting ground water in six western districts of the state.

The green panel also directed the state pollution control board to submit the water quality report, along with details of heavy metals, in the villages of Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad and Saharanpur districts.

"In the report, along with the Health Department, there will be actual physical examination of the people who are stated to be suffering the disability and skin diseases, particularly of the people whose photographs have been annexed," a bench headed by NGT Chairperson justice Swatanter Kumar said.

The tribunal, in its order, also asked the petitioner NGO to furnish the names and addresses of the persons whose photographs have been filed on record.

The matter is now listed for next hearing on July 19.

The tribunal had earlier directed the UP government to provide clean drinking water to people in these districts and asked UPPCB to test groundwater of six Western UP districts for heavy metals.

The tribunal was hearing a petition filed by NGO Doaba Paryavaran Samiti, filed through advocate Gaurav Bansal, which alleged that people were forced to drink contaminated water in six districts of western Uttar Pradesh.

The NGO had alleged negligence on part of the state government and said that villagers and schoolchildren in six districts were forced to drink contaminated water.

The plea had said that children in different villages of Baghpat district were developing serious physical disabilities because of drinking ground water.