Ahmedabad, India (IANS): Fluoride mitigation centres are to be set up in three states to increase the availability of potable water in villages, Rural Development Minister Kashiram Rana announced here Saturday.

Rana, who inaugurated a handicrafts exhibition here, said that 110,000 villages in India suffer from scarcity of potable water due to the fall in groundwater levels.

“There has been a sharp decline in the ground water level, due to which fluoride has polluted fresh water sources,” Rana told reporters on the sidelines of the exhibition.

“To bring about a revolutionary change in terms of making potable water free of fluoride in every village of India, the government is planning to set up fluoride mitigation centres all across the country.

“In first phase, five such centres would be set up in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat,” Rana said.

The first phase would be launched in Gujarat with a fluoride mitigation centre to be established in capital Gandhinagar at a cost of Rs. 450 million.

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