DHARMAPURI: Almost 17 years after the Hogenakkal Drinking Water and Fluorosis Mitigation Project (HDWFMP) was implemented in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts to tackle the high fluoride content in the region’s groundwater, Finance Minister Thangam Thenarasu on Monday announced that the second phase of HDWFMP will be executed at Rs 7,890 crore. The undertaking is expected to benefit over 40 lakh people in both districts.
After it was found that the fluoride content in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts’ groundwater was above 1.50 mg/l (the permitted amount as per WHO is 1 mg/l), the then DMK government implemented the first phase of HDWFMP in 2007 at Rs 1,928 crore to cater to the needs of three municipalities, 17 town panchayats and 7,639 rural habitations.
It was deemed a permanent solution to provide a sustainable and reliable water supply to eliminate the incidence of dental, skeletal and non-skeletal fluorosis among the public. However, not all habitations in the two districts received clean drinking water under the project. Hence, the second phase has now been envisioned to increase the project cover substantially.
Under the first phase, over 167 MLD of water is being provided to 34 lakh people, said sources from the Tamil Nadu Water Supply And Drainage (TWAD) Board in Dharmapuri. The second phase would directly benefit over 40 lakh people in Hosur corporation, Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri municipalities, 16 town panchayats and 20 panchayat unions.
“After second phase is implemented, each household in corporation will get 135 lpd (litres per day), 70 lpd in municipalities and 55 lpd for rural households,” they added.
According to Dharmapuri MP DNV S Senthilkumar, the second phase of HDWFMP will be completed using loans sought from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). “A loan amount of Rs 4,902.04 crore has been sought for the project. The remaining cost will be borne by the union government under the Jal Jeevan Mission, and the state government,” he said.