Jhabua District

Covid-19 pandemic has unleashed multiple challenges in different geographies, especially for the vulnerable groups living in areas that already have existing issues of water and food security.

I am in the middle of nowhere, out on a field visit to understand how fluoride, a deadly contaminant in groundwater has been afflicting people in some of the worst affected villages in Nalgonda, Telangana. I am thirsty as hell and would do anything to find a seemingly elusive little glass of water, but I can’t.

In 2010, nine-year-old Kailash from Miyati village, Jhabua developed symptoms of skeletal fluorosis. Fluorosis, which affects millions of people in India, is a health issue caused due to high fluoride content in drinking water. Skeletal fluorosis is marked by deformed bones.

The discussion paper by Carewater INREM Foundation on possibility of revival of dug wells in hard rock India through recharge is based on a field study across ten districts of the country. The study seeks to understand how localized governance of groundwater in hard rock areas is to be pursued through pricing (water, energy), legal regulation and community institutions. Water supply augmentation and demand management are both to be taken care of, directly through regulation or through indirect instruments such as pricing.