Decaying lives in a flow of unfit water

KV Nagaraju, a PUC student from Kothanur village in Bagepally taluk, has no luxury even to smile while chatting with his classmates at the college.
The reason: Nagaraju doesn’t want his friends to notice his teeth damaged due to fluoride that is rampant in drinking water.

He can’t afford to have safe drinking water since there is no such provision at Kothanur, thanks to the negligence of village panchayat and taluk panchayat authorities who have forgotten about their responsibility to fix a filter to the borwell in order to ensure fluoride-free water.

With most of the irrigation tanks dried up, the people here have to depend on borewells for drinking water and also for irrigation.

They have to dig down to 12,000 feet for water with the depletion of ground water.

The deeper they do, the more fluoride they find in the water. “My teeth were bright when I was in high school. Dentists told me that I am suffering from dental fluorosis,’’ said Nagaraju.

It was the same problem with Sambha Shiva Reddy and Balakrishna Reddy of Maddalakannur. They have tried various toothpastes, but in vain.

“I have been brushing my teeth twice a day, but there is no relief from dental fluorosis,’’ said Balakrishna Reddy.

Many people, irrespective of their age, have been suffering with chronic joint pain. For example, C Nanjunda Reddy and his wife Sujatha have been suffering with chronic joint pain for the last five years.

However, neither the village panchayat nor the taluk panchayat authorities have taken measures to mitigate health problems of villagers.

“The doctor only visits the Anganwadi centre. After we wake up in the morning, we are unable to walk due to the chronic joint pain,’’ said Nanjunda Reddy.

The fluoride content permissible in drinking water as per the World Health Organisation standards is 1.5 ppm. In as many as 16 districts, a discernible fluorosis problem has been noticed.

Fourteen districts in the state are affected by fluoride, nitrate, arsenic or other chemical pollutants as a result of groundwater depletion. Chikkaballapur is one of the worst affected districts in the state.

Villagers complain that elected representatives have not bothered to take measures to provide safe drinking water. “I have been suffering with dental fluorosis. By god’s grace, the authorities have provided a water filter for the benefit of children,’’ said an Anganwadi teacher at Kothanur.

The delay in desilting irrigation tanks has been attributed as the main reason for the depletion of ground water in Chikkaballapur district. For example, the state government has spent lakhs of rupees to construct a jackwell and pump house on Chitravathi river.

Its foundation stone was laid by chief minister SM Krishna in 2003. Its inauguration was done by then incumbent HD Kumaraswamy in 2006. The project was aimed at providing drinking water for 128 villages in Bagepalli and Gudibanda taluks. Fifty-seven farmers voluntarily surrendered 164 acres of land for the construction of reservoir. Now, the reservoir has dried up due to scanty rains, thus depriving safe drinking water to villages. “We have to stop pumping water due shortage of water in the reservoir,’’ said an employee of the pump house.

The story is same with Jakkalamadugu reservoir that was planned by Sir M Visvesvaraya in 1955. The reservoir sought to provide drinking water for Doddaballapur and Chikkaballapur towns. The upgradation of the bund has been in progress for the last four years. With no official visiting this reservoir, there is no control on the filter sand mafia.

There is also a dispute between the people of Doddaballapur and Chikkaballapur over sharing the drinking water from this reservoir.

HD Kumaraswamy had reportedly solved the problem by making provisions to put up two pump houses - one for Chikkaballapur and the other for Doddaballapur. However, these pump houses became redundant soon with no water being there in the reservoir.