Rhodamine dye containing Isonicotinic hydrazide (RBN-1) is synthesized for the sensing of nitro aromatics, the probe showed turn-on fluorescence with Picric acid in co-existence with other interfering nitro aromatics. The sensor RBN-1 can be used for naked eye detection of picric acid with the detection limit of 37.3 nM in solution. The RBN-1 + PA complexation involves intermolecular hydrogen bonding between the pyridine N and the hydroxyl group of PA. The observed photophysical changes of RBN-1 with Picric acid is attributed to the spirolactam ring opening. The effective sensing ability of RBN-1 is tested in real water samples and paper strip experiments, the results are in good agreement with the pilot analysis.