Govt to mobilise Rs 600cr for drinking water

The Andhra Pradesh government will mobilise Rs 600 crore to provide safe drinking water to the fluoride-affected villages across the state, chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy said on Friday.

"We are determined to pool in the required funds for implementing permanent measures to tackle the fluorosis problem," Reddy said while inaugurating a seminar on 'Sustainable Policy Initiatives on Fluorosis' organised here by two NGOs "� Citizens Against Pollution (CAP) and Fluorosis Vimochana Samithi.

Fluorosis is a serious health problem affecting 13 states in India including Andhra Pradesh. The fluoride contamination of ground water has been playing havoc with public health disabling thousands of people.

The worst-affected districts in the state are Nalgonda, Anantapur, Guntur, Prakasam and Kurnool, where fluoride content ranges between 2 ppm (parts per million) and 11 ppm, while the permissible limit is 1.5 ppm, CAP convenor K Purushotham Reddy said.

Acknowledging the seriousness of the problem, the chief minister said that his government would also consider providing pension for the fluoride-affected people who suffer from permanent disability.

A committee of environmentalists would be constituted to advise the government on corrective measures and long-term strategies to tackle fluorosis, he added.

The chief minister said that his government would implement the recently enacted Walta (Water, land and tree Act) to check environmental degradation. The Act, set to come into force from September 15, prohibits digging of borewells in close vicinity of each other.