The State Government’s Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) have established as many as 227 ‘fluoride prevention plants’ to ensure supply of safe drinking water in fluoride-affected regions of Chhattisgarh.
PHED officials informed here that the Government has established 26 district-level laboratories in the State for checking fluoride content in ground water sources.In three years, as many as 56,388 samples collected from groundwater resources across the State have been examined in these laboratories. Out of these, 328 samples were found high in fluoride content.
The Government spent more than Rs5.62 crore during 2012-13 for implementation of various schemes formulated for ensuring safe drinking water to the people living in fluoride affected areas.
The number of samples tested for fluoride content in each of the district-level laboratories established in 26 districts of the State are as follows- 7541 in Jashpur district, 5495 in Ambikapur district, 5102 in Sukma district, 4292 in Durg district, 3754 in Rajnandgaon district, 3386 in Raipur district, 3365 in Narayanpur district, 3253 in Kabeerdham district, 2711 in Korba district, 2431 in Dhamtari district, 2258 in Bilaspur district, 1876 in Bijapur district, 1788 in Koriya district, 1731 in Dantewada district, 1466 in Kanker district, 1387 in Raigarh district, 1079 in Bastar district, 922 in Janjgir Champa district, 547 in Balrampur-Ramanujganj district, 500 in Gariaband district, 420 Bemetara district, 388 in Mahasamund district, 373 in Mungeli district, 183 in Balod district and 144 in Surajpur district.