Ongole, Sept. 2: Like many other compounds, fluoride is good in small quantities and becomes harmful in large quantities. Doctors use fluoride in small quantities for the prevention of dental cavities in children. It is common practice to add very low concentrations of fluoride to tooth pastes and drinking water (less than 1ppm).

Ongole, Sept. 2: Lakhs of villages in India wrestle with health problems because of lack of potable water. But in 21 villages of Prakasam district, it is potable water which is the villain. Water with high fluoride content is turning out to be a slow poison for people in these villages.

Keya Acharya It is

The state is preparing to constitute Andhra Pradesh Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project (APRWSS) project with an objective to increase efficiency in supply drinking water to the rural population in the state. The proposed APRWSS project will be entrusted with the task of planning, designing, construction and operation of rural water supply and sanitation infrastructure in the state. So far, the Rural Water Supplies (RWS) is taking up these works. Preparations are under way to transfer these responsibilities to the Panchayat Raj institutions for their effective implementation.

Fortyeight-year-old diamond cutter Ravajibhai Rathod living in Sanaliya village of Liliya taluka is unemployed for the last three years. He was a skilful worker, but now due to fluorosis he can neither bend his knees nor walk without a stick.

Bacteria to help tackle fluorosis

Foliage helps check fluorosis