India - Watch the quality of drops you gulp down
Watch the quality of drops you gulp down
Saswati Mukherjee, TNN Feb 7, 2012, 07.43AM ISTTags:World Water Summit|Drinking water
BANGALORE: Wonder why the number of health threats and disorders is increasing by the day? Blame it on the fluoride-rich water you consume. Apart from causing metabolic disorders, the deadly fluoride can lead to anaemia in pregnant women and adolescent girls, maternal mortality, neonatal death, infant mortality and iodine deficiency disorders in children.
Presenting her study on 'Water quality and health' at the World Water Summit recently, Prof AK Susheela, executive director of Fluorosis Research and Rural Development Foundation, New Delhi, said: "Despite an investment of Rs 120 lakh crore to provide safe water to the rural population, a lot remains to be done. Surprisingly, India still believes that iron and folic acid tablets will help solve the problem. But it hasn't happened for the past four decades."
"Like Ghana, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Myanmar and Nigeria, India needs to adopt a mix of short/long-term and interim measures to tackle the situation. Treatment technologies are indigenously developed but have failed to click with the community. This is primarily due to lack of maintenance of treatment plants,'' she added.
SHORT-TERM SOLUTIONS
Groundwater sources should be tested for fluoride content in every habitation. This will help identify safe from unsafe sources. Safe sources should be protected and recharged during rainy season. "For this to happen, we must set up state-of-the-art water-quality testing laboratories - block-wise - unlike the existing labs in
districts. Added to that, refresher courses should be held to train manpower on a regular basis," she said.
Saswati Mukherjee, TNN Feb 7, 2012, 07.43AM ISTTags:World Water Summit|Drinking water
BANGALORE: Wonder why the number of health threats and disorders is increasing by the day? Blame it on the fluoride-rich water you consume. Apart from causing metabolic disorders, the deadly fluoride can lead to anaemia in pregnant women and adolescent girls, maternal mortality, neonatal death, infant mortality and iodine deficiency disorders in children.
Presenting her study on 'Water quality and health' at the World Water Summit recently, Prof AK Susheela, executive director of Fluorosis Research and Rural Development Foundation, New Delhi, said: "Despite an investment of Rs 120 lakh crore to provide safe water to the rural population, a lot remains to be done. Surprisingly, India still believes that iron and folic acid tablets will help solve the problem. But it hasn't happened for the past four decades."
"Like Ghana, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Myanmar and Nigeria, India needs to adopt a mix of short/long-term and interim measures to tackle the situation. Treatment technologies are indigenously developed but have failed to click with the community. This is primarily due to lack of maintenance of treatment plants,'' she added.
SHORT-TERM SOLUTIONS
Groundwater sources should be tested for fluoride content in every habitation. This will help identify safe from unsafe sources. Safe sources should be protected and recharged during rainy season. "For this to happen, we must set up state-of-the-art water-quality testing laboratories - block-wise - unlike the existing labs in
districts. Added to that, refresher courses should be held to train manpower on a regular basis," she said.
posted by Bill at
10:26 AM
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