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?

Cabinet Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya had made controversial remarks regarding the contaminated water tragedy in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. After this, Congress opposed the BJP leader’s remarks by making several serious allegations against him. Now a Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) has been suspended for allegedly mentioning all this in a government order.

This SDM was from Dewas, who was suspended on Sunday (January 4). Officials have informed that Ujjain Division Commissioner (Revenue) Ashish Singh has suspended an SDM of Dewas on charges of serious negligence, indifference and irregularities in the discharge of official duties.

He said that the SDM had issued a government order on Saturday to impose duty on subordinate revenue officers to maintain law and order in view of a protest organized by the Congress in Dewas on Sunday, January 4.

A senior official said, “In this order issued by the SDM, a part of the Congress memorandum which the main opposition party had given to the administration for prior information about the protest was copied exactly. This is serious negligence.

In the Congress memorandum, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of the state was targeted over the drinking water tragedy of Indore and it was said that Vijayvargiya’s use of the indecent word ‘Ghanta’ in reply to a journalist’s question is a sign of ‘inhumanity and autocracy’.

Citing the instructions of State Congress President Jitu Patwari, it was also said in the memorandum that a protest will be held by ringing ‘bells’ in front of the residences of BJP MPs and MLAs against this ‘inhuman behaviour’.

The protest was organized in protest against the death of people due to contaminated drinking water in Bhagirathpura area of ​​Indore and Vijayvargiya’s controversial comment on a TV journalist’s question about this tragedy.

Kailash Vijayvargiya had created a controversy by using the word ‘Ghanta’ in front of the camera when a TV journalist asked a question about the drinking water tragedy in Indore on the night of 31 December. In common parlance, this word is broadly understood to mean nonsense.

The administration has so far confirmed the death of six people in the outbreak of vomiting and diarrhea caused by drinking contaminated water in the city. However, Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava had said on January 2 that he had received information about the death of 10 people in the incident. Local people have claimed that 16 people, including a six-month-old child, died due to drinking contaminated water.

In Indore, which is said to be the cleanest city not only in Madhya Pradesh but in the entire country, about 9 people have lost their lives due to contaminated water. The death toll of 9 is official, but BJP councilor Kamal Vaghela has claimed the death of 15 people. At the same time, in this serious matter, former Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Uma Bharti has raised questions on the Mohan Yadav government.

Taking cognizance of Indore contaminated water issue, Uma Bharti has made a post on social media platform X. He has written, “At the end of the year 2025, the deaths due to drinking dirty water in Indore embarrassed and tarnished our state, our government and our entire system. In the city which received the award of the cleanest city of the state, there was so much ugliness, filth and poison mixed water which has swallowed and is swallowing so many lives, the death toll is increasing.”

1. The deaths due to drinking dirty water in Indore at the end of the year 2025 embarrassed and tarnished our state, our government and our entire system.
2. In the city which received the award of the cleanest city of the state, there was so much ugliness, dirt and poisoned water that it swallowed so many lives and…

— Uma Bharti (@umasribharti) January 2, 2026

‘Government will have to repent deeply’

At the same time, Uma Bharti wrote, “Life is not worth two lakh rupees because their family members remain immersed in sorrow throughout their life. This sin will have to be deeply atonement. The victim will have to be apologized and all the criminals from bottom to top will have to be given maximum punishment. This is the hour of test for Mohan Yadav ji.”

BJP councilor said- had complained many times

Ward-11 BJP councilor Kamal Vaghela, while talking to ABP News, claimed that till now 15 people have lost their lives and the condition of one person is critical. He also claimed that 8 days have passed and the source of the leakage has not been known yet. The system is responsible for this negligence.

Not only this, the councilor also claimed that he has repeatedly given written complaints to the administration regarding this, but till now no action has been taken. He had said that he has also written a letter to CM Mohan Yadav. According to this letter, the file for the new Narmada pipeline was prepared on 12 November 2024. The officers kept the file in abeyance for 7 months. After pressure, the tender was issued on 30 July 2025, but the tender work was not completed within the time limit. Many times residents had complained to the MLA, councilor and mayor.

‘Complaints were made several times on CM helpline also’

Councilor Kamal Vaghela said that complaints were being received on 311, CM helpline for a long time. The Mayor had given instructions not to wait for the funds of Amrit Yojana, but to start the pipeline work immediately, but the officers did not follow the Mayor’s instructions.

The disease spread in the area on 29 December 2025. Ward 11 BJP councilor Kamal Vaghela complained in writing to the Chief Minister. The councilor claims that the negligence of officers has taken the lives of people. Such negligence of officers is a criminal act. Public health has been deliberately endangered. Punitive action should be taken against such officers.

Madhya Pradesh’s Urban Development and Housing Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya has once again come into controversy regarding the issue of contaminated drinking water. When the media asked questions on the outbreak of diarrhea due to contaminated water in Bhagirathpura area of ​​Indore. The minister lost his temper and used objectionable words in front of the camera. Later, when the controversy escalated, he also expressed regret for his statement.

Bhagirathpura area comes in Indore-1 assembly constituency of Vijayvargiya. According to the Health Department, so far four people have died due to drinking contaminated water, while 212 people have fallen ill. Of these, 50 patients have been discharged from the hospital after treatment. The media had asked questions to the minister regarding this serious situation.

Video of Vijayvargiya’s objectionable words goes viral

According to the information, Vijayvargiya was initially answering the questions calmly, but when he was asked why the bills of the patients undergoing treatment in private hospitals were not paid and why arrangements for clean drinking water could not be made till now, he became angry. During this time, while arguing with a journalist, he said objectionable words. Its video quickly went viral on social media.

I and my team have been continuously working to improve the situation in the affected area without sleeping for the last two days. My people are suffering from contaminated water and some have left us, in this state of deep sorrow my words came out wrong on a question from the media. For this I express my regret.

but when…

— Kailash Vijayvargiya (@KailashOnline) December 31, 2025

Vijayvargiya expressed regret about wrong words

After the controversy, Vijayvargiya issued a statement on social media saying that he and his team have been working without sleep for the last two days to improve the situation. He said that people of his area are suffering due to contaminated water and some people have even died. In this grief and stress, wrong words came out of him, for which he expresses regret.

Jitu Patwari demands resignation of Vijayvargiya

State Congress President Jitu Patwari targeted the minister by sharing this video. He said that deaths due to poisonous water are increasing, but instead of taking responsibility, the government is misbehaving with those asking questions. Patwari has demanded Chief Minister Mohan Yadav to take the resignation of Vijayvargiya.

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