Fluorosis scare in Balasore village

BALASORE: Panic gripped the villagers of Jayrampur under Bhograi block following detection of high fluoride content in drinking water.  The amount of fluoride in the water samples collected from the tube-wells in the area was as high as 5.8 mg per litre against the maximum permissible limit of 1.5 mg, according to a test conducted by the Institute of Mineral Material Testing Centre (IMMTC) at Bhubaneswar. Sitansu Mishra (46) of Jayrampur got the water of his tube-well tested by the IMMTC on the advice of doctors of a Bhubaneswar- based private hospital. The centre, after conducting the test, found that the fluoride content was 5.18 mg per litre. The doctors advised him to go for the test as they found him suffering from fluorosis after he complained of acute pain in his body, abdomen, ribs and joints.  Locals said over a 100 residents of the same village having a population of around 7,000 have been suffering from fluorosis-like symptoms along with dental disorders.  As per the yardstick prescribed by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the permissible limit is 1.5 mg per litre of water.  RWSS officials had earlier collected water samples from nearly 138 tube-wells in the village and warned the villagers against having drinking water from these wells.RWSS executive engineer Rajeev Kumar Panigrahi said fluoride content of 2.5 to 3.5 mg per litre have been found from about 91 privately dug tube-wells in the village. There are around 17 tube-wells and 30 standposts in the village. On Thursday again, a technical team of RWSS examined water sources in the village and asked the local officials to take steps on a war-footing to provide people fluoride-free water. The team led by chief analyst-chemist and technical advisor of RWSS department R P Mishra tested the water samples from the private tube-wells and Indian Mark-II tube-wells in Jayrampur village. Mishra said water from the private tube-wells is not at all fit for human and cattle consumption. Meanwhile, CDMO S Iqbaluddin Ahmed said doctors have examined around 20 persons of the village who have developed symptoms of fluorosis. “The report is awaited,” he said.