Ganga-Meghna Brahmaputra || West Bengal || Bangladesh || Middle Ganga Plain, Bihar || Uttarpradesh
Jharkhand || North-East Hilly States || Rajnandgaon, Chattisgar || Behala, Kolkata, WB || As toxicity- Homeopathic Treatment
Effectiveness & Reliability - As Field Testing Kits || Utility Of Treatment Plant
Causes, Effects & Remedies - Groundwater As Calamity || References

DEVIL'S WATER
(Arsenic: Cause, Effect and Remedy in Bangladesh and West Bengal-India)

Dipankar Chakraborti*

 

Screaming, they left their villages in haste -
'The Devil's water is rising, flee!'
They had no wish to touch, nor any desire to taste.

Aid Agencies and their 'yes men', without a qualm explained,
'The Green Revolution will arrive, so will healthy bodies thrive -
Now come receive in the cup of your hands - this boon the gods have.

 

Intoxication churned the blood - Devil became God thereafter -
His mission was accomplished
Through every living pore of skin burst forth Devil's laughter !'

Who is that weeping secretly, her face buried in a shroud?
Whose eyes are those in which such anxiety cloud?
'I am Nature, Primal Mother.
And water my life-blood-
Have you slaked your thirst with your mother's blood?'

 


'Cast your eyes far and wide my children, look around -
The nectar of immortality in all places abound,
What foolish whim causes you to fling it far aside?'

'There is time still, yes, time is on our side -
Drink no more your mother's blood, take nurture from her breast,
In village, or in city, wherever you may abide -
With people's participation come take up my treasure-chest.'

* Director & Head
School of Environmental Studies
Jadavpur University, Kolkata - 700 032, India
Tel: 91 33 2414 6233, Fax: 91 33 2414 4266
Email: dcsoesju@vsnl.com

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