NEW DELHI: It's official. Delhi's groundwater status has gone from bad to worse. As if water scarcity wasn't bad enough for the Capital this summer, high levels of contamination detected in groundwater are now giving authorities sleepless nights.

A Central Ground Water Board (CGWB)-compiled "health status" report on groundwater has shown alarmingly high levels of nitrate, fluoride and bacterial contamination.

Sarai Kale Khan in South Delhi, which was part of 57 sites surveyed across the Capital, was found to have 1.57 micrograms of mercury per litre of water as against the permissible level of .001 micrograms.

What it translates into for the common man is a host of deadly diseases including the killer blue-baby syndrome, nerve destruction, weakening of teeth and bones, damage to soft tissues, kidney failures, acute constipation, low food absorption, anaemia and even depression.

The report found that over 30 per cent of the area in Delhi had fluoride content more than the maximum permissible concentration in drinking water prescribed by the World Health Organisation. The areas with high concentration are spread mainly in South-West Delhi, West Delhi; and North-West Delhi.

High nitrate concentration was found near Okhla, West and some pockets in North-West districts and is being attributed to improper disposal of sewage through soak pits in these areas.

Also, of 269 groundwater samples collected, 58 per cent were found to have bacteriological contamination. The presence of total coliforms and faecal coliforms was found mostly in groundwater samples collected from hand pumps. The areas affected included South-West Delhi, Central Delhi and East Delhi.

Speaking about the ill-effects of the contamination, Executive Director of Fluorosis Research and Rural Development Foundation (Delhi), A. K. Susheela, explained: "Fluoride poisoning is more common than people know and worse not many doctors are aware of the symptoms of this type of poisoning. We had approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) with a proposal to include fluoride-poisoning education as part of the medical school syllabus. The Commission then impressed upon the Union Health Ministry to instruct the Medical Council of India to add fluoride poisoning to the syllabus but things haven't moved since 2004.''

In fact, so widespread is the problem that the Ministry of Water Resources had previously also issued a public notice warning residents about high levels of nitrate and fluoride contamination in the groundwater. The notice advised people in several areas including Bawana, Kanjhawala, India Gate Nursery, Nizamuddin, Ashram Chowk, Union Public Service Commission, Rajouri Garden, Vasant Enclave, Block Mehrauli, Moti Bagh Part-1, New Friends Colony and Preet Vihar not to use the groundwater due to high concentration of nitrates and fluoride.

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