(a) whether a large number of diseases are caused due to use of high fluoride
and contaminated drinking water in the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof including the persons died during the last three years, State-wise;
(c) whether the Government has conducted any study in this regard;
(d) if so, the findings thereof; and
(e) the details of centralised schemes aided by WHO/International Organisations being implemented
in various States especially in Maharashtra?
MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SHRI GHULAM NABI AZAD)
(a) to (d): High fluoride contents in drinking water lead to a number of health problems such as dental fluorosis,
skeletal fluorosis and non-skeletal fluorosis etc.
Faecal contamination of water causes Water Borne Diseases such as Cholera, Acute Diarrhoeal Diseases, Viral Hepatitis
and Typhoid Fever (Enteric Fever).The state wise details of cases and deaths caused by Water Borne Diseases during the
years 2006-08 are Annexure-I to IV.
As per information available high level of fluoride content in drinking water has been observed in more than 275 districts
of 21 States/Union Territories of the country.
(e) Government of India has launched World Bank assisted Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP) in 2004. It is a
decentralized state based disease surveillance programme, intended to detect outbreaks of communicable diseases, including
Water borne diseases, at the earliest point of time and formulate rapid response thereto to contain impending disease
outbreaks.
As per the information received from the Ministry of Rural Development, Department of Drinking Water Supply, the world Bank
funded Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS) project is working in various States like Kerala, Karnataka, Uttaranchal,
Punjab. As per the State of Maharashtra, the assistance approved for the second Maharashtra RWSS project is US$ 181 million.
The project has commenced on 29.10.2003 and is likely to be completed by September 2009.
Government of Germany has also provided € 23,826 million under the German Bilateral Development cooperation being
implemented in three districts of Maharashtra with the aim to provide rural areas with drinking water and sanitation
facilities. The project has commenced in March 2007 and been extended upto December 2009 for completion.