SO FAR, West Bengal had been outside the fluoride map of the country which covers 13 other states. It has now been reported that contaminated water was coming out of tubewells running to a depth of 200 ft through a basalt foundation in Birbhum district. If arsenic poisoning was just not enough to destabilise health standards in West Bengal, recent revelations about the high content of fluoride in drinking water in the state, has exposed a large number of people to severe health hazards. The state water resources and development minister Nandagopal Bhattacharjee said in Calcutta recently that a good number of uses of fluorosis caused by contaminated drinking water were reported from the Nalhati block of Birbhum district.

The high level of fluoride contamination came to light following a survey by scientists of the state water investigation directorate in the affected area, after local residents complained of serious ailments relating to the deformity of bones and tooth decay.