The schemes launched to provide fluoride-free water in Nagaon district not up to the mark; many patients not covered under the national programme on fluorosis; erratic distribution of medicines another hurdle 

By Arshad Ahmed

Unlike most others of his age, Tajuddin (18) does not like to be photographed. “I am sorry, I have posed enough... I have only been mocked and shamed because of my appearance,” says the teenager, who lives in Tapatjuri, along River Jamuna in the Hojai district of Assam. 

Tajuddin is one among many lives crippled by fluorosis, a medical condition caused by overexposure to fluoride in the water that affects teeth enamel to make them look crooked and results in bent legs due to skeletal deformation.

“More than 1,000 children in the sub-villages of Tapatjuri 1, Haladihati and Niz Parokhawa coming under Akashi Ganga panchayat in Hojai district are affected by both dental and skeletal fluorosis,” claims activist Dharani Saikia of NGO Environmental Conservation Centre.

In all, Tapatjuri has 1,422 (1,305 dental and 117 skeletal) fluorosis patients, according to Arundhati Deka, the State Nodal Officer of National Programme for Prevention and Control of Fluorosis (NPPCF). However, an official at Haldihati Health and Wellness Centre tells 101Reporters on condition of anonymity that the numbers are heavily downplayed. Saikia adds non-skeletal fluorosis patients are not even counted!