Bhubaneswar, Aug. 29: Bent spines and mottled teeth make them look older than they are. Nearly 50 men and women in Balsingh-Singhpur village, about 60km from here, have been carrying the curse of fluoride for two decades now with the Orissa government watching their plight almost helplessly.

However, this is not the only village in Orissa where people are affected by excessive presence of fluoride, a dangerous pollutant, in drinking water sources.

As many as 854 villages in 16 districts are suffering from the problem, but it is most acute in Angul, Khurda, Nayagarh, Nuapada and Puri. While in Angul the water is being contaminated by fluoride occuring in the form of industrial waste, at other places fluoride-bearing rocks are polluting the underground water.

The problem in Balsingh-Singhpur began in the 80s, but the government is yet to relocate the villagers, the only way they can be saved from fluoride inflicting further damage on their health. Official sources said a new fluoride-free site for rehabilitating the residents of the affected village had been identified, but majority of the residents were reluctant to move out. The villagers complain that the new site lacks basic facilities and the houses being provided are too small to accommodate their families.

Though relocation is the only way through which the fluoride threat can be tackled, there has hardly been any effort in this direction in most of the affected habitations. In the backward Nuapada district, which accounts for 387 fluoride-affected villages, the victims in most of the habitations have been crying for alternative sites with safe drinking water resources, but the administration is yet to make arrangements.

Sources said the situation had changed, but little despite the several review meetings having taken place in Bhubaneswar. The limitations of the administration were exposed thoroughly in the Balasingh-Singhpur case where they had failed to convince people to shift to the rehabilitation colony.

“It’s a gargantuan problem considering that nearly half the districts in Orissa are affected. The tragedy is that we have not even been able to tackle it effectively in the industrial belt of Angul where 87 villages are hit by contamination. The situation is worse in Nuapada and Nayagarh where the people are poorer,” said an official.

The voluntary sector, too, has been playing a role in generating awareness about fluoride contamination, thus supplementing the efforts of the government.

However, with the latter yet to find an effective strategy to tackle the menace, the voluntary workers engaged in fighting the menace appear to be getting increasingly frustrated.