BANGALORE: Nearly 60 per cent of water sources in Karnataka have more than one ppm (parts per million) - the permissible fluoride limit, 20 per cent of them tested positive for nitrate contamination and 38 per cent of them had bacteriological contamination, says a survey report called ASHWAS. ASHWAS is based on a survey of household water and sanitation situation in rural Karnataka and was carried out by Arghyam Foundation. ASHWAS was released at the Raj Bhavan on Monday by Governor H R Bharadwaj.

The survey covered 17,200 households under 172 gram panchayats across 28 districts of the state. Nearly 100 households were surveyed in each gram panchayat. The 200-page report has presented the findings in four broad categories namely water, sanitation, health and hygiene, and governance, with a separate section to highlight the issues of equity, vulnerability and gender...