Ground water in a suburb of Agra City is causing major health problems for locals.

High fluoride levels have led to people developing arthritis among other problems.

About a dozen nearby villages are also affected.

[D.K. Joshi, Member, Supreme Court Bar Council]:
"The problem of fluoride in the ground water is almost in the whole Agra but the way water wells have been closed; natural process of water harvesting has stopped working and because of the excess of fluoride, people are suffering from such diseases."

Even though the water isn’t safe to drink, locals don’t have many other options to resort to. But authorities say help is on the way.

[Dr. Dharampal, MLA]:
"In coming days we will be sending the doctors teams in the villages. It has been brought to our notice and government is taking steps to lay a new water pipeline there, we are serious on this matter and along with that we will be organizing a health camp soon so that people who are suffering from the diseases will get help and now it's our duty to look after this."

With water sources drying up, the one remaining source of water is a hand-operated pump, which produces contaminated water.