Deccan Herald             28.11.2013  

Fluoride treatment plants in nine wards

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP)
will instal 1,000-litre-capacity fluoride treatment plants in nine wards
of Yelahanka and Mahadevapura divisions.

The Palike
decision comes after it discovered high fluoride and nitrate contents
and total dissolved solids (TDS) in the underground water in the nine
wards – Chowdeshwari Ward, Attur, Jakkur, Thanisandra, Hoodi, Anjaneya
Palya, Hagadur, Varthur and Bellandur – while sinking borewells
recently.

Moreover, the High Court had directed the civic
authorities to provide potable water to citizens and set up water-filter
plants in areas where water contamination is very high. The Palike resorted to sinking borewells as the water table had drastically dipped in these areas.

Nitrate occurs in ground water due to sewage. Most of the
water bodies in these areas are highly contaminated because untreated
effluents are let directly into them by many apartment dwellers.

“Borewells
in Attur are going too deep, almost 1,000 feet, where the chances of
fluoride content in water is always very high. Tests have confirmed that
fluoride, TDS and nitrate are high in Attur. So, the Palike has floated
a tender to set up a water treatment plant in my ward,” said Attur
Corporator K N Geetha Shashikumar.

She said the lakes in the
newly added wards of the BBMP were highly contaminated due to lack of
underground sewerage lines. She said her ward has Attur Lake, spread
over 84 acres, but it has dried up despite heavy rains this year. “There
was little water due to rains this year, but it has dried up again. The
water table has depleted so badly that we have to sink a borewell near
Attur Lake and the water again is contaminated,” said the corporator.