here, children are resigned to walking with a limp. And women, weighed down by sheer pain, have stopped looking skywards. In fact, age and sex appear to be no bar as infirmity pervades the entire area. Welcome to the Kachnarwa panchayat in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh, where disability has become a part of life. ‘Fluorosis’ is the administration’s diagnosis. From all accounts, the authorities themselves have inflicted this agony upon the people.

The ‘disease’ has spread its tentacles far and wide. About 25 villages of Chopan block are affected and close to 10,000 people have various kinds of deformities, reveals M A Khan. He is an activist who has worked closely with the indigenous people of the region for the past 35 years. District and state administration officials are, however, quick to play down the problem. The chief medical officer (cmo) of Sonbhadra, Heera Mani Pandey, informs Down To Earth that there are only 69 cases in the block. That he has neither visited Rohaniya Damar tola (hamlet)