Fluorosis resurfacing in Marriguda mandal alarms all

Located 54 km from the district headquarters, Marriguda mandal consists of 20 gram panchayats and 49 habitations. The region has been grappling with fluorosis cases for decades. With a population of 37,008 across 13,146 households, the mandal receives 42 lakh litres of treated drinking water daily under the Mission Bhagiratha scheme. This supply provides 100 litres of water per person. However, the reappearance of dental fluorosis in the area has baffled officials.

Experts suggest that the fluorosis problem can only be resolved permanently by providing irrigation facilities for agriculture. They emphasise that farmers must stop relying on groundwater for cultivation, as crops grown with fluoride-laden groundwater contribute to the issue.
In 2020, the BRS government proudly announced in the Assembly that no new fluorosis cases had been reported in Marriguda mandal over the past six years. This claim was based on a survey conducted by an NGO. However, the announcement was criticised after reports of dental fluorosis resurfaced in the mandal.

Following the BRS government’s announcement, the District Fluoride Monitoring Centre (DFMC), established to ensure inter-departmental coordination to combat fluorosis, was rendered inactive. Contract employees were removed, leaving the DFMC dormant.

During the Munugode Assembly bypolls, political parties competed to take credit for achieving zero fluorosis cases in the area.

A Mission Bhagiratha official, speaking on condition of anonymity, pointed out that 14 Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants operated by private people are active in the mandal. However, there is no monitoring of the fluoride content in the water supplied by these plants, which rely on untreated groundwater. Despite the availability of sufficient treated drinking water, many residents continue to consume water from these RO plants.
Water quality chemist and consultant T. Veera Reddy stated that the fluoride level in the water supplied under Mission Bhagiratha is less than 0.5 ppm, well below the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) permissible limit of 1.5 ppm.

Fluorosis Vimukthi Porata Samithi convener Kanchukatla Subash emphasised that consuming crops such as vegetables and rice grown using fluoride-contaminated groundwater exacerbates fluorosis. He argued that providing safe drinking water alone is insufficient and called for irrigation facilities using river water to address the problem permanently.

Subash urged the state government to expedite the construction of the Shivannagudem reservoir, which aims to irrigate 1.5 lakh acres in the Munugode Assembly constituency. Completion of the reservoir under the Dindi Lift Irrigation Scheme would significantly reduce fluoride contamination in groundwater, he added.