Karnataka High Court Issues Notice On Plea Highlighting Issue Of Contamination Of Drinking Water In Various Districts Across State

The Karnataka High Court on Monday issued notice to the State government and other respondents on a Public Interest Litigation filed by an advocate highlighting the issue of contamination of drinking water in the various districts of the State.

A division bench of Chief Justice N V Anjaria and Justice K V Aravind issued a notice returnable on July 1, on the petition filed by Ramesh Naik L.

It is claimed that the petition has been filed for the benefit of the people of the entire State of Karnataka and northern districts of Karnataka in particular i.e. Raichur, Chitradurga etc. and Tumkur District as Contamination of Drinking Water has become a recurring issue across the State in the past three years.

Further, it is said that he has submitted multiple representations dated 11/06/2022, 10/11/2023 and 08/02/2024 to the authorities requesting to take necessary and appropriate action but has not received any response.

It is submitted that in June 2022, contamination of drinking water in Raichur town resulted in the death of four persons and many fell sick and were treated in hospital over a period of two weeks.

It was stated that in the month of May 2023, this caused the death of a three-year-old boy and serious health issues to 34 people in Rekalamardi Village of Devadurga Taluk and 25 people in Gorebal Village of Lingasuguru Taluk of Raichur District.

In July 2023, the Kavadigara Hatti locality of Chitradurga District had been in the news due to the death of six people for consuming contaminated drinking water. More than 180 people are reportedly admitted to hospital for falling sick due to the same reason, it was stated.

The plea claims that in all the above incidents the Government washed its hands by awarding monetary compensation to deceased families but never tried to address the root cause of this recurring problem.

Referring to Supreme Court judgments wherein the court has held that clean drinking water is a fundamental right of all citizens and ruled that Article 21 of the Constitution of India guaranteeing “Right to Life” also includes the “Right to clean and safe drinking water” and the state is duty-bound to provide it."

It is said “The inaction and negligence on the part of Respondents to deal with the recurring “Contamination of Drinking Water” issue in the middle, northern districts and Tumkur District of Karnataka resulted in the violation of Fundamental “Right to clean and safe drinking water” of the people of Karnataka in general and northern districts in particular and hence it offends Article 21 of the Constitution of India.”

Further, it is claimed that the failure on the part of Respondent authorities to address the recurring “Contamination of Drinking Water” issue is against the Karnataka State Water Policy, 2022.

The plea prays for directions to the authorities to take appropriate and necessary action to address the recurring “Contamination of Drinking Water”. Also, it seeks a direction on authorities to frequently review the water sources from where drinking water is being supplied to the public, inspect old main water supply pipelines and clean the water storage facilities once in a particular number of days in rural areas and urban areas of the State.

Case Title: Ramesh Naik L AND State of Karnataka & Others Case No: WP 9911/2024