 bill no 217 of  2017 the fluoride contamination (prevention) bill, 2017 by shri ch malla reddy, mp a billto provide for effective regulation of the level of fluoride in groundwater and identification of the risk areas of fluoride contamination, formulation of a national policy for mitigating and preventing fluoride contamination in food and drinking water in the country for the overall welfare, care and protection of the citizens and for matters  connected therewith or incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-eighth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the flouride contamination (prevention) act, 2017(2) it extends to the whole of indiashort title, extent and commencementdefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "fluoride" means a compound containing fluorine and another element or radical which is a natural mineral found throughout the earth's crust and widely distributed in nature;5(b) "authority" means the national fluoride contamination preventionauthority established under section 4;(c) "groundwater" means naturally occurring water found below the surface inthe saturated zone which can be extracted by digging wells and bores; and(d) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act10national policy forprevention offluoride contamination3 notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force,the central government shall as soon as may be after the commencement of the act and in consultation with the government of the states, formulate a national policy for mitigating and preventing fluoride contamination in food and groundwater in the country for the overall welfare, care and protection of the citizens154 (1) the central government shall, as soon as may be, by notification in the official gazette, establish and authority to be called the national fluoride contamination prevention authority for the purposes of this actestablishment of national fluoride contamination prevention authority20(2) the head office of the authority shall be at new delhi and the authority may establish offices at other places in the states and union territories as it may deem necessary for carrying out the purposes of this act(3) the authority shall consist of the following members—(a) a chairperson, who shall be an expert scientist having adequate knowledgeand professional experience in the prevention of fluoride pollution, to be appointed by the central government;25(b) one deputy chairperson with such qualifications as may be prescribed, tobe appointed by the central government;(c) five members of parliament of whom three shall be from lok sabha and twofrom rajya sabha, to be nominated by the respective presiding officers of the two houses;30(d) five members, one each to represent the union ministries of drinkingwater and sanitation, environment, forest and climate change, health and family welfare, agriculture and farmers welfare and panchayati raj, respectively, to be appointed by the central government;35(e) four members to represent the non-governmental organisations workingfor prevention of fluoride pollution in food and ground water, to be appointed by the central government; and(f) four members to be nominated by the governments of the states to be rotatedamongst the states in alphabetical order40(4) the authority shall be a body corporate by the name aforesaid having perpetual succession and common seal with power to acquire, hold and dispose of property both movable and immovable and to contract and shall by the said name sue and be sued45(5) the salary and allowances payable to chairperson, deputy chairperson and members, terms of office of the chairperson, deputy chairperson and members of the authority and the procedure to be followed in the discharge of the functions of the authority shall be such, as may be prescribed(6) the authority shall have a secretariat with such number of officers and staff as may be prescribed(7) the salary and allowances payable to, and other terms and conditions of the officers and staff of the authority shall be such, as may be prescribedfunctions of the authority55 (1) subject to any guidelines issued by the central government under the provisions of this act, the authority shall perform and undertake such special steps in close coordination with concerned ministries and departments of the central and the state governments to eliminate fluoride contamination and to afford the fluoride free drinking water and food to everyone throughout the country as it may deem necessary and expedient under this act(2) without prejudice to be generality of the foregoing provisions, the authority shall—10(a) conduct survey at risk areas to determine the location, scale and causes offluoride contamination;(b) conduct survey of irrigation wells to assess the risk of overuse andexploitation of ground water on agriculture and human health;(c) develop awareness at all levels of society about the potential danger offluoride in food and water;15(d) assess the availability of low fluoride water resources for humanconsumption;(e) help farmers to adapt by maximizing rain fed production where alternativewater source for irrigation are insufficient;(f) prioritise water supply and treatment intervention in worst affected areas;20(g) establish local and affordable capability to test water supplies where fluoridesurveys have been completed;(h) coordinate and monitor time bound fluoride mitigation plants to eliminatefluoride exposure;(i) identify alternative soft water sources and assess their sustainability;25(j) assess the effect of contaminated water to fluoride exposure specially onhuman health;(k) assess the likely impact of climate change on the increased demand for andreduced availability of groundwater;30(l) assess the health effects of excessive exposure to fluoride and providepreventive medical assistance; and(m) such other activities as may be assigned from time to time35central government to provide funds6 the central government shall after due appropriation, made by parliament by law in this behalf, pay to the authority in each financial year such sums as may be considered necessary and adequate for the performance of the functions of the authority under this actannual report407 the authority shall prepare once every year, in such form and at such time as may be prescribed, an annual report giving summary of its activities during the previous year and submit it to the central government, which show cause the same to be laid before both the houses of parliamentpower to remove difficulties8 (1) if any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this act, the central government may, by order published in the official gazette, make such provisions not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, as appears to it to be necessary or expedient for removing the difficulty:45provided that no such order shall be made after the expiry of the period of two yearsfrom the date of commencement of this act(2) every order made under this section shall, as soon as may be after it is made, be laid before both the houses of parliament9 the provisions of this act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any other law for the time being applicable to the subject matter of this actact to supplement other laws power to make rules510 (1) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rulesto carry out the provisions of this act10(2) every rule made under this act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each house of parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions, aforesaid, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both the houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have affect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule statement  of  objects  and  reasonsfluorosis, a public health problem is caused by excess intake of fluoride through drinking water, food products and industrial pollutants over a long period high concentrations of fluoride in groundwater are common in some of the semi-arid areas of rajasthan, southern punjab, gujarat, karnataka, tamil nadu, madhya pradesh and southern haryana several areas of telangana and andhra pradesh have high concentrations of fluoride in ground water (exceeding 5 mg/l) there are a number of cases of dental and skeletal fluorosis in these areas in several parts of the country, fluoride concentrations of groundwater are more than the permissible level of 15mg/l in 11309 rural habitations in 230 districts of 20 states with an affected population of about 112 crorethe nalgonda fluorosis problem in the state of telangana is a stigma that has stuck for generations, severely disabling skeletal fluorosis affects lakhs of people in just one district of the country as per official estimates, there are 65 lakh fluorosis affected patients, out of which there are around 75,000 severely skeletal fluorosis affected people the extreme water stress and water scarcity situation in this region has resulted into around 55 lakh deep borewells in just one single district the fluoride problem has just increased over the past 80 years, after it first got reported in the 1937the united nations general assembly's human right to water and sanitation resolution64/292 passed in 28 july 2010 recognised the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights according to the constitution of india, every citizen has a right to clean water under the ambit of article 21 pertaining to right to lifetherefore, given the magnitude of the problem there is a need to provide safe drinking water to cover all water quality affected habitations with piped water supply schemes and an effective law to regulate the level of fluoride in groundwater and identification of risk areas for mitigating and preventing fluoride in food and groundwaterhence this billnew delhi;ch malla  reddynovember 27, 2017 financial memorandumclause 4 of the bill provides for the establishment of nation fluoride contamination prevention authority clause 6 makes it obligatory on the central government to provide necessary funds for the purposes of the act the bill, therefore, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that a sum of rupees twenty five thousand crore will be involved as recurring expenditure per annumnon-recurring expenditure to the tune of rupees six thousand crore will also be involved from the consolidated fund of india memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 10 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of this bill as the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character———— a billto provide for effective regulation of the level of fluoride in groundwater and identification of the risk areas of fluoride contamination, formulation of a national policy for mitigating and preventing fluoride contamination in food and drinking water in the country for the overall welfare, care and protection of the citizens and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto————(shri ch malla reddy, mp)