Click to play videoNalgonda: Ansula Swamy is contesting for the post of chairman of zilla parishad from Marriguda mandal of Nalgonda in Andhra Pradesh.
The 24-year old is only three-feet tall as he's a victim of Fluorosis.
Though he cannot sit without support and is completely dependent on his father for moving around, he runs a telephone booth and is determined to contest the elections.
"I met all the leaders both in Delhi and Hyderabad and gave representations, but everyone turned a blind-eye to our suffering. So we decided to solve our problems ourselves by contesting in the elections. No one else should suffer like me," says Swamy.
Thousands of people in the 675 Fluorosis-affected villages in Nalgonda urgently need safe drinking water.
Politicians have made several hollow promises, but now the Fluorosis Vimukthi Porata Samithi has decided to take the matter up in the local elections.
Along with Swamy, 26-year old Panuganti Tirupathamma has also filed her nomination, and she's confident that she'll make it.
"We are confident of our victory and it is with that confidence that we are moving ahead. There is immense support for me, not just in my village, but in the surrounding villages too," says Tirupathamma.
"Though we are crippled physically, we have the zeal to do it. If we have the determination, nothing can stop us. I'll go any distance to get safe drinking water for my people," she adds.
Ground water in Nalgonda district has the highest Fluoride content. While the normal limit is 1.5 ppm, it is more than 8 ppm here.
Safe drinking water from the Krishna river is pumped to Hyderabad from Nalgonda, but residents of Nalgonda do not receive it.
Tirupathamma and Swamy are now concentrating on a strategy to bring safe drinking water to their district.
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