Groundwater of all 30 districts contaminated, according to report

Bengaluru: A report tabled by Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation in the Lok Sabha on Thursday revealed that as many as 30 districts in Karnataka have nitrate and fluoride content beyond permissible limits, thus exposing millions consuming it vulnerable to cancer and fluorosis, respectively.

Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan are two other states in the country with high groundwater contamination levels.

Barring Udupi district in Karnataka, all other districts showed fluoride content exceeding the permissible limit while samples from Mandya, Chikkaballapura, Dharwad, Kolar and Kalaburagi having arsenic content exceeding the permissible limit of 0.01 m.g. per litre. Nitrate levels, in water samples collected from the 30 districts exceeded the permissible limit of 45 m.g. per litre.

An increase in the use of chemical fertilizer and mismanagement in the disposal of industrial effluents are the main reasons for water contamination.