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“ I was hoping things would change, but nothing has,” said a villager as he loaded his last piece of luggage onto the tractor that would carry them away from his ancestral home.
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The ‘double-engine’ Modi-Adityanath had promised many things, Sab ka Vikas: but the ‘development’ for all could not ensure potable drinking water to all. He said UP was let down by all parties, and assured the State would turn a new leaf. UP Assembly had polls in 2017 with a turnout of 61percent and BJP got 39.67 of polled vote, and formed the govt., part of a ‘double-engine’ promised by PM Modi. Amidst so many ‘welfare schemes’, and huge budgets, meant more to swindle funds than to deliver goods, the most serious problem of drinking water, of fluorosis, and of arsenicosis, continues to be neglected, despite the Indian State admitting its seriousness. The polity, hence the big media, is lost amidst rapacious political forces working 24x7x365 to grab and retain power with no concern for the well-being of the people, more so the toiling masses. Legislative Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in UP from 10 February to 7 March 2022 in seven phases to elect all 403 members : the results will be declared on 10 March 2022. More than one lakh villages are in this danger zone that includes UP. While excess Fluoride is a slow poison, Arsenic is a deadly poison spreading in most of the Gangetic-Brahmaputra belt. This is part-1 of an article on UP’s Drinking Water problems, focused on contamination by high fluoride and arsenic. ‘Sacred’ but the waters are not pure, not safe, not potable UP supplied most of India’s prime ministers ever since 1947, the latest being Narendra Modi, the Gujarati leader who chose to be elected to Loksabha from the ‘sacred town Varanasi, along sacred river Ganga’ in UP. UP is the largest Indian State, with a population of over 200 million, i.e., equal to around three big countries of Europe. Of the total 75 districts in Uttar Pradesh (UP), 63 districts have fluoride above the permissible limit and 25 districts are affected by high arsenic, as per May, 2019 data of the UP’s Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, marked in the map above. Share on WhatsApp Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Telegram Share on Reddit Share on Email