15 Nov Fluorides in Drinking Water: – a hidden poison
पीने के पानी में फ्लोराइड: - एक छिपी हुई ज़हर An adequate water resource for future generations is not only a regional issue but also a global concern. Like other parts of world, India is also facing a water crisis and by 2025 it is estimated that India’s population will be suffering from severe water scarcity. Although India occupies only 3.29 million Km2 geographical area, which forms 2.4% of the world’s land area, it supports over 15% of world’s population with only 4% of the world’s water resources. Groundwater contributes only 0.6% of the total water resources on earth; it is the major and preferred source of drinking water in rural as well as urban areas. It caters to 80% of the total drinking water requirement and 50% of the agricultural requirement in rural India. But in the era of economical growth, due to various ecological factors either natural or anthropogenic, the groundwater is getting polluted because of deep percolation from intensively cultivated fields, disposal of hazardous wastes, liquid and solid wastes from industries, sewage disposal, surface impoundments etc. Presence of various hazardous contaminants like fluoride, arsenic, nitrate, sulfate, pesticides, other heavy metals etc. in underground water has been reported from different parts of India. In many cases, the water sources have been...