Ganga-Meghna
Brahmaputra ||
West Bengal || Bangladesh
||
Middle Ganga Plain, Bihar ||
Uttarpradesh
Jharkhand || North-East Hilly States ||
Rajnandgaon,
Chattisgarh || Behala,
Kolkata, WB || As
toxicity- Homeopathic Treatment
Effectiveness & Reliability - As Field
Testing Kits ||
Utility Of Treatment Plant
Causes, Effects & Remedies - Groundwater As Calamity
|| References
Endangered
Generations :Groundwater Arsenic Contamination in
West Bengal, India
Murshidabad district
The
area and population of Murshidabad district are 5324 sq.km and 5.3 million
respectively. We have been surveying all 26 blocks of Murshidabad for
the last 3 years and have analyzed 29612 water samples for arsenic. The
arsenic content in groundwater in 24 of the 26 blocks exceeds the 50 µg/l
limit and in 25 blocks
above 10 µg/l (Figure 3). Our calculation reveals that at least
1.2 million people in these 24 blocks are drinking water whose arsenic
content exceeds the maximum permissible limit set by WHO. Till date, we
have succeeded in partially ascertaining the number of patients in 3 blocks
of the districts. We have recorded the names, addresses and description
of the arsenical skin lesions of about 4813 patients. Detailed field survey
of Murshidabad district is given in Table 3.
Table 3: Groundwater arsenic situation and sufferings of people in Murshidabad district
| Area of Murshidabad | 5324 sq.km |
| Population of Murshidabad (in thousand) | 4740.15 |
| Total number of blocks in Murshidabad district | 26 |
| Number of blocks where we had surveyed | 26 |
| Total number of GPs in Murshidabad district | 225 |
| Total number of GPs covered | 220 |
| Total number of hand tubewell water samples analyzed | 29612 |
| Number of arsenic affected blocks where groundwater contains arsenic above 10 µg/l | 25 |
| Number of arsenic affected blocks where groundwater contains arsenic above 50 µg/l | 24 |
| Total number of villages in Murshidabad | 2414 |
| Number of arsenic affected villages with arsenic above 50 µg/l (according to our survey) | 994 |
| Blocks surveyed for arsenic patients | 15 |
| Blocks where people with arsenical skin lesions identified | 15 |
| % of samples with arsenic above 10µg/l | 53.8 |
| % of samples with arsenic above 50µg/l | 26.0 |
| Total biological samples analyzed | 3700 |
| % of biological samples contain arsenic above normal levels (average) | 88 |
| People screened for arsenic patients (preliminary survey) | 25274 |
| Number of registered patients with clinical manifestations | 4813 (19%) |
| Expected people drinking arsenic contaminated water above 10 µg/L | 2.5 million |
| Expected people drinking arsenic contaminated water above 50 µg/L | 1.2 million |
During our very preliminary
4 days survey from 18-21 December, 2001 from 4 affected blocks of Murshidabad
we have registered 931 new patients with arsenical skin lesions and out
of them 14 are suspected cancer patients and 72 suspected Bowens (Photograph
2-6). Our experience in the field as well as inputs given by the villagers
have pointed out that we have not succeeded in recording the problems
of even 10% of the suffering / affected folk. One of the reasons, during
the time we are in the village, most of the adult villagers is in the
field and school going folk are in schools. We also feel that affected
young girls and middle-aged women did not turn up to our camp to avoid
social problem. We have learned from the affected villagers that one or
two members of many families had arsenic marks on their skins and had
met with untimely death. A considerable number of people who have died
of cancer also had arsenic lesions.
The arsenic affected villages are home to many types of problems. Young
men and especially women are encountering serious difficulty in getting
married because of the arsenic mark on their skins. Even persons with
arsenic skin lesions are being refused jobs. Some patients are being isolated
because of
Figure-3
the mistaken notion of the lesions being leprosy. Even married women are being sent back to their parents because of lesions.
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