The road link between Ara-Barahara, Ara-Salempur, Keshovpur-Saraiya has been snapped as swollen Ganga has overtopped the roads and flowing two feet above the roads.

Shoumojit Banerjee

Ara (Bhojpur): Fears of cameras haunt the Brahmin-dominated village of Simaria-Ojhapatti in Bhojpur district, the hub of arsenic-infested drinking water in Bihar.

Alto gether 18 children were born blind in the arsenic affected blocks of Bhojpur district during the past three months, Bihar health minis- ter Nand Kishore Yadav confirmed on Wednesday.

The cause of the blindness was not yet known, but health department officials were in touch with ophthal- mologists, he said.

PATNA: Altogether 18 children were born blind in the arsenic affected blocks of Bhojpur district during the past three months, Bihar Health Minister Nand Kishore Yadav confirmed.

The cause of the blindness was not yet known, but health department officials were in touch with ophthalmologists, he said.

The middle and upper Ganga plains covering the upstream part from Rajmahal Hills, were earlier considered to be free from arsenic groundwater contamination. Initially, the contamination (>0.05 mg/l) was reported in 2002 from two villages, Bariswan and Simaria Ojhapatti of Bhojpur district of Bihar.