Madhya Pradesh: 802 villages of Dhar fluoride-affected

Dhar (Madhya Pradesh): District panchayat chief executive officer Shringar Shrivastav visited fluoride-affected villages in Nalchha block and interacted with locals. He also inspected fluoride removal unit at Patdi village and gave necessary instructions to officials concerned.

Clinton Health Foundation coordinator Rajesh Srivastava apprised collector about 10 new flouride removal plants to be installed in the region for safe drinking water.

Earlier, Shrivastav chaired a meeting with district officials at district panchayat office over fluoride contamination in water. District Fluorosis Consultant and executive engineer PHE A S Davar, Rajesh Srivastava, MD Dr Bharti also attended the meeting.

Dr Bharti gave details of contamination in the district. She said that close to 9,000 people in Dhar were possibly suffering from dental fluorosis in at least 802 villages marked as fluorosis-affected.

Twelve patients were found suffering from skeletal fluorosis and were under medical treatment.

Considering the alarming situation, Davar said that high fluoride content in water was dangerous to resident’s health. The consumption of water led to various health problems like skeletal fluorosis in adults and mottled teeth in children. PHE department aims to provide fluoride-free water by 2028.