It’s not a problem as yet, but the first signs of trouble have been found by a bunch of schoolchildren. The issue is that of fluoride content in drinking water in the state.
It’s not a problem as yet, but the first signs of trouble have been found by a bunch of schoolchildren. The issue is that of fluoride content in drinking water in the state.
The Schools Water Portal, an initiative of Arghyam, has found fluoride content in seven places in the state: Bellary, Kudremukh, Kasargod, Mangalore, Belgaum, Kopal and Bangalore North.
According to Priya Desai of Arghyam, the Schools Water Portal is an online platform that shares learning resources on water with parents, students, educators and school managements. The programme was conducted with 1,339 schools participating in the project from places far as Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The initiative was essentially conducted to spread awareness on fluoride contamination in groundwater in the run-up to World Water Day on Thursday.
Most experts are of the view that fluoride content in drinking water is not a problem as yet, but something that needs to be watched out for.
Vishwanath of the Biome Environmental Trust points out, “Fluoride is showing its presence near Bellandur lake but is absent in most borewells of Bangalore.” Dr Najeeb KM, regional director of the south-western zone of the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), concurs, “By and large, fluoride is not found in Bangalore as yet.”
Figures from the state panchayat raj department, however, on villages affected by water quality problems shows the problem may not be a minor one. A recent document lists, for instance, 519 habitations in seven taluks in Chitradurga which have been affected by excess fluoride in drinking water.
In Kolar, 509 households from 11 taluks are affected. The problem is definitely widespread, though not intense in nature.
The water quality testing programme of Arghyam was an experiment using the Internet to sensitise schoolchildren on the widely prevalent issue of fluoride in drinking water, a problem that affects 6.6 crore people in 19 states of India. Arghyam used social media to the hilt, enabling teachers and students to share their learning experiences with each other. An open Facebook group allowed teachers and students to share their pictures and videos and interact with each other, creating a buzzing community online.
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