A large population, especially children, in 27 of the 50 Madhya Pradesh districts are threatened by the fluorosis menace as people in these districts are being forced to drink water with excessive fluoride, much beyond the permissible limit. According to the latest information available from the state public health engineering department, the fluoride content in water is much beyond the prescribed norms of 1.5 mg per litre or 1.5 part per million (ppm) in 11,460 drinking water sources (mainly handpumps) in 6,746 habitats spread across 27 districts.

Around 30 per cent of the groundwater resource in the state is unfit for both drinking and agriculture, a fact that has sparked concern in the groundwater department authorities since water sources in the state are receding at an alarming rate. Salinity and fluoride contamination are the main reasons for the water becoming unsuitable for irrigation and drinking. Dr K. Venugopal, joint director, groundwater department, said that there are as many as 36 saline mandals and a huge area with high flourine content in water, posing health hazards due to fluorosis.

NEW DELHI, May 7 – UNICEF has reported arsenic contamination in ground water in 18 districts of Assam and fluoride contamination in five districts.
Based on information from Chief Engineer (PHE) of the State Government, a UNICEF study has found arsenic and fluoride contamination, Minister of State for Water Resources, Vincent H Pala said in a Rajya Sabha reply to a question by Naznin Faruque.

HYDERABAD: After designing and commissioning several low-cost groundwater defluoridation plants in flurosis -affected villages of Andhra Pradesh, the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology is now looking forward to set up model defluoridation units in Rajasthan. Defluoridation refers to methods of water treatment that reduce the concentration of fluoride in the water, normally, in order to make it safe for human consumption.

GUWAHATI: For implementation of the Total Sanitation Campaign in Assam, National Coordinator of New Delhi’s Sulabh International Social Service, Rupal Roy, met Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi yesterday.

Roy briefed the Chief Minister as to how this sanitation programme should be carried on in the State. The Total Sanitation Campaign is a comprehensive programme to ensure sanitation facilities in rural areas with broader goal to eradicate the practice of open defecation.

NUAPADA: Here, water problem is of a different kind. Even as there are water sources in 2,355 hamlets under 641 revenue villages, they are high on fluoride. Although the water is resulting in physical deformities and deaths in some cases, it is Hobson’s choice for people. The permissible content of fluoride is 0.5 to 1.0 mg per litre of water. As per official records, in Boden and Komna blocks of the district, tests revealed that groundwater in Boden has fluoride of 1.5 mg/litre. In Dhamabhata village even tube-well water is affected with a fluoride content of 5.4 mg/litre.