Centre asks Karnataka to fix uranium contamination in drinking water

Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Saturday expressed concern over uranium contamination in drinking water being supplied to households in some villages of Karnataka, calling it “a matter of serious concern”.

Shekhawat was in the city for a regional conference of ministers to review the Jal Jeevan Mission and the Swachh Bharat Mission.

Apparently, uranium contamination in water has been found in some villages of Kolar and Chikkaballapur.

“It has come to our knowledge that in the eastern part of Karnataka some of the villages have identified uranium contamination. It’s a matter of serious concern. I have instructed that this should be addressed immediately so that people aren’t forced to drink contaminated water,” Shekhawat told reporters.

“Immediate solutions can be provided by the community water purification plants and multi-village schemes so that treated water can be distributed,” the minister said.

Under the Jal Jeevan Mission, Karnataka has so far provided functional tap water connections to 46.20 lakh rural households against the target of 97.91. In Kolar, the government has covered 60,764 households whereas it is 54,330 in Chikkaballapur.

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“We are abandoning these water sources,” Additional Chief Secretary (Rural Development & Panchayat Raj) LK Atheeq said. “Instead, we are making use of groundwater whose levels have risen because of lakes getting filled up in Kolar and Chikkaballapur,” he said.

Under the KC Valley project, lakes in the two districts are being filled up using treated sewage water from Bengaluru. “This has helped groundwater recharge. Water is now available at a depth of 33 m. We did tests and found that this groundwater is potable,” Atheeq said.

Shekhawat also said there are 86 fluoride-affected habitations in Andhra Pradesh and 52 in Madhya Pradesh that “deserve immediate remedial action”.

The regional conference covered Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Puducherry and Lakshadweep.

“I can share with great pride that despite Covid and its resultant hurdles we are able to go from 17% rural households having tap water supply to 48%. We’re marching ahead,” Shekhawat said.

Speaking at the conference, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said he is “personally supervising” the progress of the Jal Jeevan Mission in Karnataka. “Of the 97.91 lakh rural households, tap water has to be provided to 25 lakh households in the initial phase. The achievement has been about 18 lakh. The target of 25 lakh would be met within the next few months,” Bommai said.

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