BHANDARA: Waigaon, a village in Bhandara district, may be the only village in the country where drinking water is supplied through small containers carried by rickshaws twice a day. Every day, 10,000 litres of water is supplied in the village by the ZP rural water supply department.

Waigaon in Paoni tehsil is 50km from Bhandara and has a population of 525. For the last 64 years, residents of the village were drinking water with fluoride, which resulted in teeth decay among the villagers. Even children going to Anganwadi suffered from tooth decay. Most villagers also suffer from bone deformity. Sources say water in Waigaon contained 2mg fluoride per litre whereas the permissible limit is 1-1.5 mg per litre.

But ultimately, the problem was taken up by rural water supply department of Bhandara zilla parishad. Rs 9 lakh was sanctioned for installation of a defluoridation unit in the village. The scheme was provided funds from Bharat Nirman Yojana. A defluoridation unit is installed at the village and villagers are getting pure drinking water.

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