INDIA: Study finds ‘acute fluoride contamination’ in groundwater in Dhanbad villages

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INDIA: Study finds ‘acute fluoride contamination’ in groundwater in Dhanbad villages

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Study finds ‘acute fluoride contamination’ in groundwater in Dhanbad villages

Hindustan Times - January 10, 2023

Study finds that high levels of fluoride contamination could lead to several health hazards, including dental fluorosis, skeletal fluorosis, arthritis, bone damage, osteoporosis, muscular damage, fatigue, joint-related problems and other chronicle issues.

Megh Pyne Abhiyan (MPA), a non-profit organisation (NGO) in association with Jadavpur University, surveyed 20 habitations in six revenue villages of Gharbar panchayat in Jharkhand’s Baliapur block, Dhanbad district and found varying levels of fluoride contamination in groundwater.

According to the survey, micro-level planning is required by the policymakers and the administration in providing potable drinking water after experts from Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) raised concerns about the contamination percentage of water sources, which is above permissible limits.

“The CGWB came up with a list of districts across the country in 2022 where fluoride and arsenic contamination was found to be above permissible limits. Dhanbad district was on the list of fluoride contamination. We took it from there and did a micro-level survey in different habitations along with alternatives,” said Eklavya Prasad from MPA.

As per the findings, the fluoride contamination above the permissible limit of 1.5 mg/l in water sources across the surveyed 20 habitations was around 37%, while those between 1 to 1.5 mg/l stood at 10%.

As per the CGWB report of 2022, fluoride beyond permissible limit was encountered in certain isolated pockets (point source) of 370 districts in 23 states, including 12 in Jharkhand, and arsenic contamination in certain isolated pockets (point source) of 152 districts in 21 States, including two from Jharkhand.

Jalk Shakti ministry, in a reply in Lok Sabha on March 24, 2022, said that to address the contamination problems in drinking water, the central government, in collaboration with states, is implementing the ‘Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM)’ established in August 2019 to provide a potable tap water supply of prescribed quality to every rural household in the country by 2024.

SOURCE:
https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/r ... 19900.html
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