VIJAYAWADA: The HC has observed that access to safe and clean drinking water is a fundamental right of the people and not a luxury.
The HC stated that under the Constitution, citizens are entitled to safe drinking water and it is the responsibility of the government to ensure its supply. The HC clarified that permission from the concerned gram panchayat and authorities is mandatory for setting up RO water plants and for drilling borewells.
The HC rejected the petitioner’s argument that no permission was required for establishing an RO plant. Justice Satti Subba Reddy issued the observations while hearing a petition filed by Konka Srinu alias Srinivasulu, a farmer from Ippagunta village in Ponnaluru mandal of Prakasam district.
The petitioner had constructed an RO water purification plant and drilled a borewell on his ancestral land. However, officials later seized both the borewell and the RO plant, alleging that they had been established without obtaining necessary permissions. Approaching the HC, Srinivasulu argued that the village was facing drinking water shortage and water supplied by the government was not fit for drinking.
He said he had established the RO plant only to provide purified drinking water to villagers at an affordable price.