Living with incapacity: High fluoride in water takes its toll on villages in Rajasthan
10 min readBy PTI
SAMBHAR: Two cousins, one 18 and the opposite six, combating deformed limbs and stunted progress, and several other others, together with toddlers and elders, within the joint household dealing with frequent joint pains figuring out the water they drink could possibly be the rationale however doing so anyway as a result of there are not any choices.
That’s the story of not simply Singh household however others as effectively within the villages of Devpura and Moondwara in Rajasthan’s Sambhar block, about 80 km from the Sambhar salt lake, India’s largest inland salt lake.
The villagers, lots of them unlettered, blame the lake water that has contaminated the groundwater as the principle purpose for top salinity and fluoride content material in consuming water.
According to Om Prakash Sharma, head of the NGO Gram Chetna Kendra that works within the space, incapacity within the two villages about 50 km from Jaipur averages about 10 in 1,000. The nationwide quantity is 5 in 1,000 folks. That is sort of double the conventional common, he identified.
The incapacity is instantly linked to excessive fluoride content material within the space, a reality backed by research, he mentioned.
Long time period results of skeletal fluorosis takes place if the fluoride stage in water is greater than 1 mg/litre, mentioned Dr Aman Dua, director, joint alternative and orthopaedics, at Delhi’s Fortis Escorts hospital.
“So there is widening of bones, deformities in joints and the symptoms are specially marked in the spinal column where they may lead to nerve compression and weakening of limbs because of long term use,” he informed PTI.
According to a Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) report, excessive fluoride in groundwater in Jaipur district the place the villages are situated is a matter of nice concern with fluoride focus going as much as 16.4 mg/litre in some locations at Sambhar block towards the permissible 1mg/l.In the Sambhar lake itself, it’s 2.41 mg/l.
The indicators are there for all to see.
In the Singh family in Devpura village, Lalita, who’s now 18, mentioned she was simply 5 when her mom seen she couldn’t straighten her hand.
The incapacity quickly unfold and her leg, too, acquired deformed through the years. Her speech additionally began slurring”.
“Doctors were not sure what happened to me. There was something wrong with my bones and muscles,” Lalita, who struggles to talk, informed PTI. Her mom Shanti Devi factors to the pump from the place the household will get their water.
It seems to be clear to start with however gather it in a container and the salt quickly settles on the backside.
“The drinking water we get here is saline. This is leading to pain in different parts of the body, hands, legs. Our children are becoming disabled at different ages, some at six months, some at 12 months, some at five years,” Shanti Devi mentioned.
The authorities, she added, began a pipeline to attach them to a special supply however didn’t end work on it so that they proceed to be depending on groundwater The joint household of 13 lives in Devpura, about 50 km from Jaipur.
And nothing has modified for them since Lalita’s incapacity was first seen 13 years in the past. Like Lalita, her six-year-old cousin Monu has an inflated chest and suffers from bone deformities.
“He isn’t growing, the chest is inflated. We have consulted doctors who attribute it to the water quality. Groundwater is the only source of water for us here and it has chemicals that cause our ailments,” his mom Rashmi Devi mentioned.
Not removed from their dwelling, Sakshi Singh, principal of the first college in Devpura, echoes her despair. Of the 30 youngsters within the college, 5 to 6 youngsters endure from disabilities.
“Fluoride content in the water is very high. This is a leading cause of disability in children here. There are no special teachers to teach such children,” Singh mentioned.
The many tales of Devpura discover echo within the twin village of Moondwara. Sonu, 20, is wheelchair sure. He additionally suffers from full-body disabilities and his arms and legs are deformed.
“We don’t understand what went wrong. The deformities slowly started and spread across the body, we showed doctors in cities and they blamed saline water for it,” his father Ramesh Singh, a farmer, mentioned.
The state of affairs has worsened within the final twenty years, mentioned Harish Singh, a photographer whose two youngsters endure from disabilities.
“Our organisation has been working on the issue for the past 20 years. In many cases we have seen that a single family has many cases of disabilities. We feel that this area because of salt lake Sambhar has high salinity and fluoride content in water. Groundwater is overexploited. The dipping levels have caused further contamination of water with fluoride,” Gram Chetna Kendra’s Sharma mentioned.
According to census 2011, there are 26.8 million folks with disabilities in India, making up 2.21 per cent of the entire inhabitants.
Controlling fluoride content material in water can reverse non-skeletal signs however skeletal signs are irreversible, mentioned Fortis Escort hospital’s Dua. Non-skeletal signs begin fairly early and are seen as regular signs comparable to nausea and stomach ache.
“But when you go deep into it, when skeletal manifestation starts kicking in then you understand it is fluorosis affecting all the system. It can also lead to nervousness and depression which are also long term impacts. Muscle strength is affected, the tendons, kidneys are all affected. Water with high fluoride content is the most common culprit,” he mentioned.
Dr.Amit Sharma, senior marketing consultant, rheumatology, at Jaipur’s Fortis Hospital agreed that fluoride contamination in consuming water is creating havoc in lots of components of Rajasthan.
“Fluoride when ingested over a prolonged period of time gets deposited in our gums, enamel and bones. A molecule called calcium hydroxyapatite formed in our bones gets replaced by fluoride so teeth become ultra white and bones become brittle. There is late complication of joint stiffness, ligament calcification and that leads to deformities and pain in the joints,” he defined.
Asked why some youngsters get affected and never all in a village, he mentioned malnutrition when mixed with excessive fluoride content material in water can worsen the situation.
The authorities’s Jal Jeevan Mission has promised to offer clear faucet water connection to whole rural India by subsequent 12 months. But villagers say the mission is but to achieve these villages. The pipeline for clear water began lengthy again but it surely’s nonetheless not full.
There is simply 39 per cent protection in rural Jaipur district of faucet connection until now, in response to official information.
In 2019, hundreds of migratory birds of about ten species have been discovered lifeless round Sambhar lake with officers attributing water contamination as one of many causes for the deaths.
SAMBHAR: Two cousins, one 18 and the opposite six, combating deformed limbs and stunted progress, and several other others, together with toddlers and elders, within the joint household dealing with frequent joint pains figuring out the water they drink could possibly be the rationale however doing so anyway as a result of there are not any choices.
That’s the story of not simply Singh household however others as effectively within the villages of Devpura and Moondwara in Rajasthan’s Sambhar block, about 80 km from the Sambhar salt lake, India’s largest inland salt lake.
The villagers, lots of them unlettered, blame the lake water that has contaminated the groundwater as the principle purpose for top salinity and fluoride content material in consuming water.
According to Om Prakash Sharma, head of the NGO Gram Chetna Kendra that works within the space, incapacity within the two villages about 50 km from Jaipur averages about 10 in 1,000. The nationwide quantity is 5 in 1,000 folks. That is sort of double the conventional common, he identified.
The incapacity is instantly linked to excessive fluoride content material within the space, a reality backed by research, he mentioned.
Long time period results of skeletal fluorosis takes place if the fluoride stage in water is greater than 1 mg/litre, mentioned Dr Aman Dua, director, joint alternative and orthopaedics, at Delhi’s Fortis Escorts hospital.
“So there is widening of bones, deformities in joints and the symptoms are specially marked in the spinal column where they may lead to nerve compression and weakening of limbs because of long term use,” he informed PTI.
According to a Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) report, excessive fluoride in groundwater in Jaipur district the place the villages are situated is a matter of nice concern with fluoride focus going as much as 16.4 mg/litre in some locations at Sambhar block towards the permissible 1mg/l.In the Sambhar lake itself, it’s 2.41 mg/l.
The indicators are there for all to see.
In the Singh family in Devpura village, Lalita, who’s now 18, mentioned she was simply 5 when her mom seen she couldn’t straighten her hand.
The incapacity quickly unfold and her leg, too, acquired deformed through the years. Her speech additionally began slurring”.
“Doctors were not sure what happened to me. There was something wrong with my bones and muscles,” Lalita, who struggles to talk, informed PTI. Her mom Shanti Devi factors to the pump from the place the household will get their water.
It seems to be clear to start with however gather it in a container and the salt quickly settles on the backside.
“The drinking water we get here is saline. This is leading to pain in different parts of the body, hands, legs. Our children are becoming disabled at different ages, some at six months, some at 12 months, some at five years,” Shanti Devi mentioned.
The authorities, she added, began a pipeline to attach them to a special supply however didn’t end work on it so that they proceed to be depending on groundwater The joint household of 13 lives in Devpura, about 50 km from Jaipur.
And nothing has modified for them since Lalita’s incapacity was first seen 13 years in the past. Like Lalita, her six-year-old cousin Monu has an inflated chest and suffers from bone deformities.
“He isn’t growing, the chest is inflated. We have consulted doctors who attribute it to the water quality. Groundwater is the only source of water for us here and it has chemicals that cause our ailments,” his mom Rashmi Devi mentioned.
Not removed from their dwelling, Sakshi Singh, principal of the first college in Devpura, echoes her despair. Of the 30 youngsters within the college, 5 to 6 youngsters endure from disabilities.
“Fluoride content in the water is very high. This is a leading cause of disability in children here. There are no special teachers to teach such children,” Singh mentioned.
The many tales of Devpura discover echo within the twin village of Moondwara. Sonu, 20, is wheelchair sure. He additionally suffers from full-body disabilities and his arms and legs are deformed.
“We don’t understand what went wrong. The deformities slowly started and spread across the body, we showed doctors in cities and they blamed saline water for it,” his father Ramesh Singh, a farmer, mentioned.
The state of affairs has worsened within the final twenty years, mentioned Harish Singh, a photographer whose two youngsters endure from disabilities.
“Our organisation has been working on the issue for the past 20 years. In many cases we have seen that a single family has many cases of disabilities. We feel that this area because of salt lake Sambhar has high salinity and fluoride content in water. Groundwater is overexploited. The dipping levels have caused further contamination of water with fluoride,” Gram Chetna Kendra’s Sharma mentioned.
According to census 2011, there are 26.8 million folks with disabilities in India, making up 2.21 per cent of the entire inhabitants.
Controlling fluoride content material in water can reverse non-skeletal signs however skeletal signs are irreversible, mentioned Fortis Escort hospital’s Dua. Non-skeletal signs begin fairly early and are seen as regular signs comparable to nausea and stomach ache.
“But when you go deep into it, when skeletal manifestation starts kicking in then you understand it is fluorosis affecting all the system. It can also lead to nervousness and depression which are also long term impacts. Muscle strength is affected, the tendons, kidneys are all affected. Water with high fluoride content is the most common culprit,” he mentioned.
Dr.Amit Sharma, senior marketing consultant, rheumatology, at Jaipur’s Fortis Hospital agreed that fluoride contamination in consuming water is creating havoc in lots of components of Rajasthan.
“Fluoride when ingested over a prolonged period of time gets deposited in our gums, enamel and bones. A molecule called calcium hydroxyapatite formed in our bones gets replaced by fluoride so teeth become ultra white and bones become brittle. There is late complication of joint stiffness, ligament calcification and that leads to deformities and pain in the joints,” he defined.
Asked why some youngsters get affected and never all in a village, he mentioned malnutrition when mixed with excessive fluoride content material in water can worsen the situation.
The authorities’s Jal Jeevan Mission has promised to offer clear faucet water connection to whole rural India by subsequent 12 months. But villagers say the mission is but to achieve these villages. The pipeline for clear water began lengthy again but it surely’s nonetheless not full.
There is simply 39 per cent protection in rural Jaipur district of faucet connection until now, in response to official information.
In 2019, hundreds of migratory birds of about ten species have been discovered lifeless round Sambhar lake with officers attributing water contamination as one of many causes for the deaths.
