By Admin 
Drinking water has become a curse in 332 villages of Rohtas district of Bihar. Many villagers have become disabled due to excessive fluoride in water. People of the villages say that even today they are not able to get pure drinking water.
The situation is so dire that even pulses are not found in this water. These villages have been declared fluoride affected in the report of the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), yet even after years, a concrete solution to the problem has not been found.
City supply also under question
Water is supplied from Karwandiya and Jamuhar, about ten kilometers away from the district headquarters in Sasaram town. The supply pipes pass through dirty accumulated water at many places. Incidents of pipe bursting occur every day, but due to the insensitivity of the responsible department, repairs are not done on time.
Due to lack of space in the narrow streets of old localities, the pipes leading to the houses have been passed over the drains. If there is leakage somewhere, dirty drain water reaches the houses. Under compulsion, poor and economically weak people are forced to drink this water. At the same time, capable people are buying boring or jar water and drinking it, but the quality of jar water is also under doubt.
10 times more fluoride, village is becoming a home for disabled people
98 fluoride affected villages have been identified in Sivasagar block adjacent to Rohtas district headquarters. The most serious situation is in Barua village of Nad Panchayat. Here, 10 times more fluoride than the standard has been found in the underground water.
According to the villagers, most of the people in the village are disabled. Consumption of this water for generations has made them crippled. The situation is so bad that disability is being seen even in animals. Water treatment plants were installed in the villages, but they also could not prove effective.
Administration’s efforts limited to papers
PHED officials claim that out of 332 fluoride affected villages in the district, treatment plants have been installed in 272 villages and the quality of purified water is being checked.
The reality is that till date water supply has not started from more than half of the treatment plants.
There are no operators at many places, due to which the plants are lying idle due to lack of maintenance. Bikramganj ranks second in terms of fluoride affected villages, where the number of such villages is 46.
PHED claims
PHED Executive Engineer Amit Kumar says that fluoride laden water has been identified in 332 villages of Rohtas district. Water treatment plant is operational in Barua village of Sivasagar block. The quality of plants installed at other places is being checked.
Provision of pure drinking water will be ensured by starting fluoride treatment plants everywhere. For this, instructions have been issued to junior engineers in all the blocks.
Lessons are not being learned even from Indore tragedy
In early January 2026, 10 to 17 people were reported dead due to drinking contaminated water in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, especially in the Bhagirathpura area, where a large number of people fell ill. Despite this, the Bihar government and related departments have not lost their sleep.
People of Rohtas are still forced to drink dirty and fluoride-rich water. The question is, will the administration come into action only after a major tragedy, or will the suffering of these villages remain unheard?
Input By : Ranjan Singh, Rohtas