Fluorosis strikes, village limps on

In the Kachharia Dih village of Nawada district in Bihar, kids, women and men alike have been limping for the past many years as the entire village is affected with fluorosis, a disease caused by excessive fluorine in the drinking water. The disease has crippled 90 per cent of the villagers.

With the well drying up, there’s only one source of water — a hand pump. Villagers say the situation has worsened in the past four-five years with the construction of the Hardia Dam nearby.

Nawada District Magistrate N. Vijay Lakshmi said that in 2002, some doctors had visited Kachharia Dih and advised that the village be shifted but that hasn’t been done yet. Meanwhile, the villagers have no choice but to limp about with the support of bamboo sticks.