Fluoride-contaminated water has crippled over a thousand children in one Assam district

Over a thousand children below the age of five have been crippled by fluorosis in the last five to six years in Hojai, in the northeastern state of Assam. The most pronounced symptoms are bent legs and crooked teeth.

The culprit? Fluoride-contaminated water. According to an official survey, fluoride levels in water above the permissible limit of 1 mg/litre have been found in 11 districts in the state – putting an estimated 356,000 people at risk. Experts warn that the numbers will rise if appropriate steps are not taken on an emergency basis.

Najibuddin Ahmed, former additional chief engineer of the Assam Public Health Engineering Department, says he had come across “more than a thousand children below the age of five, crippled because of fluoride contamination” in Hojai district a few years back. The district’s main town, which goes by the same name, is 170 km southeast of Assam’s largest city, Guwahati..................