THOUSANDS of residents across 85 villages in Nagpur district live at risk from groundwater fluoride contamination that exceeds the World Health Organisation (W HO) safety limit of 1.5 mg/l. The recent water testing report by Groundwater Surveys and Development Agency (GSDA) found that more than 100 ground water sources in 85 villages in the district are contaminated with high fluoride level which may cause severe health hazard to users in long term. As per GSDA, with 20 villages, Ramtek is the most affected taluka in the district followed by Kuhi (18 villages), Bhiwapur (12), Parseoni (11), Mauda (5), Saoner (5), Umred (4), Katol (4), Hingna (2), Kalmeshwar, Kamptee, Nagpur Rural and Narkhed have one village each affected with this contamination. The Nagpur district administration has shifted into an aggressive action mode to eliminate toxic fluoride levels from regional groundwater, aiming to secure safe drinking water for impacted rural populations.

 

“We are working on two-year action plan to curb this fluoride outbreak in the district. Out of 85 villages, the piped drinking water in 31 villages are contaminated directly from the source water body whereas 54 villages getting the contamination from tubewells and public wells,” Kumar Ashirwad, district collector told ‘The Hitavada’. According to collector, all the most affected talukas in district is surrounded with mines which is a major cause of contamination. The administration will time to time monitor water testing reports of GSDA and is planning to establish defluoridation units in all 54 villages which is directly getting contaminated water from tubewells and public wells.

 

The administration leverages the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Fluorosis which brings dedicated District Nodal Officers into action to execute targeted clinical screening. The villages show fluoride levels reaching above the permissible limit, it may lead to high rates of dental fluorosis, bone damage, and school dropouts. Though the outbreak reported in the district, the impact of fluorosis is a long term process and we are acting on emergency mode to curb this with in two years, claimed Kumar Ashirwad.