Fluoride threat persists
Deccan Chronicle - February 24, 2012
By Prabeer Sikdar
Fluoride-affected people from 400 villages of 16 districts narrated their woes during an inter-state convention on drinking water, organised by the city-based NGO Bala Vikasa Social Service Society (BVSSS) on Thursday.
Fluoride-affected people from 400 villages of 16 districts narrated their woes during an inter-state convention on drinking water, organised by the city-based NGO Bala Vikasa Social Service Society (BVSSS) on Thursday.
While some participants exhibited advanced stages of skeletal fluorosis, others had brittle teeth due to excess exposure to fluoride in their drinking water. “In our Krishnapuram panchayat of 200 families in Munogorlu mandal in Nalgonda, at least 50 people have yellowish brittle teeth and severe joint pains,” said B. Muthayaiah, 50, whose teeth are badly affected due to high fluoride content during his teen years.
Near home in Trimalapuram village in Chityala mandal of Warangal, high fluoride content in drinking water has resulted in affected teeth/loss of teeth in 70 people and deformed limbs/joint pains in 10 others.
“About 15 years ago, blood oozed out from one of my teeth and they became permanently discolored,” said K. Kistaiah, 32, a farmer in Chityala mandal, who attended the convention to share the success stories of his community-owned water purification plant.
Though NGOs like BVSSS, Lions Club, and government’s Rural Water Supply (RWS) wing have funded defluoridation water plants, there still remains a large population without the option of fluoride-free drinking water sources in Warangal.
Take for instance Jangaon municipality, where the promised defluorided drinking water promised from the nearby Chitakottur reservoir is yet to reach the town’s population in 28 wards.
In Narsampet Nagar panchayat, the RWS-run defluoridation water plant set up in Ashok Nagar area nine years ago at a cost of Rs.28 crores, has achieved only 30 per cent of its target population.
Revadi thanda of Gudur mandal in Narsampet division has more than 20 skeletal fluorosis victims.
In Mulug division, where such plants were first sanctioned in 2000 during the TD regime at a cost of Rs.40 crores, they are yet to become functional in Mulug (23 panchayats are affected), Govindraopet (10 panchayats affected) and Mulug Ghanpur (10 panchayats affected).
SOURCE:
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels ... rsists-138