HYDERABAD: Claiming that it was during Congress rule that the government had overcome the fluorosis problem in Nalgonda, its Lok Sabha member N. Uttam Kumar Reddy condemned ‘false claims’ being made by state ministers that it was eradicated through Mission Bhagiratha.
While campaigning for party candidate Palvai Sravanthi in Choutuppal mandal, he said that the credit for making Nalgonda and other parts of Telangana free from fluorosis goes to the previous Congress government.
"TRS leaders have become habitual cheats. Everyone knows that Mission Bhagiratha is a big scam and the TRS government has only painted the water supply reservoirs and tanks constructed by the earlier government to claim ownership," he said.
The Congress MP pointed out that fluorosis was a major public health problem in India with 20 states caught in the epidemic. Many districts, including Nalgonda, were among the most affected areas. It was during Rajiv Gandhi's regime as the prime minister, that the Congress government had taken up control of fluorosis under the National Drinking Water Mission in 1986. This was done to create awareness as it was a newly identified health problem in the country, he said.
Subsequently, the Congress-led UPA government introduced the National Program for the Prevention and Control of Fluorosis (NPPCF) in its 11th five-year plan during 2008-2009. The strategies included surveillance of fluorosis, capacity building, equipping hospitals with diagnostic facilities for fluorosis, management of fluorosis cases through diet modification, surgeries or rehabilitation," he added.
