Haryana: Ghaggar river water unfit for drinking, bathing: Central govt
These findings were tabled in the Lok Sabha by Union minister of state for health, Prataprao Jadhav in response to an unstarred question asked by Congress MP from Sirsa, Kumari Selja.
CPCBs primary water quality criteria for bathing water comprised estimated concentration of fecal coliform bacteria in water (500 per 100 ml – 2,500 per 100 ml) and fecal streptococci bacteria (100 per 100 ml - 500 per 100 ml), pH level between 6.5 -8.5, dissolved oxygen (5 mg/1 or more), biochemical oxygen demand.
The Haryana MP had sought to know the number of cancer patients along the number of districts which have established special cancer wards for treatment of such patients in Haryana, the role of the polluted water of Ghaggar river in spreading cancer and whether the government has made any plan to clean the Ghaggar water. She also wanted to know whether the Union government provides any special assistance to cancer patients belonging to BPL families
The union minister of state in his reply said that an estimated 7,892 cancer cases were detected from 2019 to 2023 in Haryana (1,468 in 2019, 1,536 in 2020, 1,580 in 2021, 1,630 in 2022 and 1,678 in 2023).
The reply said that Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has informed that a study conducted by Kaur et al., 2024, published in Indian Academy of Sciences on human health risk assessment revealed that people dwelling near river drains were highly prone to cancer disease and hazard quotients were observed above the threshold limit that poses high non-carcinogenic risks. The results of the current study revealed that lead, iron and aluminium exceeded the permissible limit of the CPCB. The CPCB in coordination with state pollution control boards has established a water quality monitoring network, the National Water Quality Monitoring Programme. The minister of state said that river Ghaggar is monitored at 18 locations in Punjab and nine locations in Haryana by respective state pollution control boards and CPCB.
The reply said that under the centrally sponsored scheme of National River Conservation Plan, sewage treatment capacity of 15 million litres per day (MLD) was created in different towns of Punjab for conservation of Ghaggar river. The Punjab Pollution Control Board has informed that to treat waste water from the towns in the catchment of river Ghaggar, 28 sewage treatment plants of total capacity 291.7 MLD have been installed. HSPCB has informed that sewage treatment capacity of 588 MLD has been created in river catchment under the Ghaggar Action Plan.
'Cancer care facilities are available in government medical colleges in Hisar, Karnal, Nuh, Sonepat and Rohtak. Comprehensive cancer care services are provided in National Cancer Institute, Bhadsa in Jhajjar. Under the strengthening of tertiary cancer care centres facilities Scheme, Atal Cancer Care Centre has been established at sub-divisional civil hospital, Ambala Cantt. It is equipped with the latest equipment for cancer treatment and comprehensive cancer care services are provided to the needy patients not only from Haryana but also neighboring states,'' the minister's reply said.
It also said that the treatment of cancer is either free or subsidised in government institutions. Further, financial assistance is provided to poor patients for their cancer treatment under the health minister's cancer patient fund component of the umbrella scheme of the Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN). Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana aimed at providing health insurance cover of ₹5 lakhs per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation. Since the inception of the scheme, treatment for cancer diseases has been included in the benefit packages. All modes of treatment for cancer (medical oncology, surgical oncology and radiation oncology) are covered under the scheme, the reply said.
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