From Arunabha Majumder, All India Institute of Public Health and Hygiene (AIIHPH), Kolkata
Posted 20 February 2008
I am a Professor, Department of Sanitary Engineering, All India Institute of Public Hygi ene and Health in West Bengal and have worked extensively on arsenic contamination of groundwater.
Arsenic contamination was detected in West Bengal in the beginning of the 1980s. Today it has spread to 8 districts, 79 blocks, 11 municipal areas and 18 non-municipal areas in West Bengal. It is also found in Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisharh, Uttar Pradesh and Assam. Arsenic is a slow poisoning metalloid that causes skin lesion, keratosis, melanosis, liver and intestinal disorders, nausea, coughs, colds and i nfluenza, nervous system disorders, urinary and kidney problems, lung and cardio -vascular problem. Acute arsenic poisoning causes cancer of the skin, lever, kidney and lung. Many villagers in these states are affected with arsenicosis. Poor villagers who already have a heavy burden of malnutrition are generally the victim of arsenicosis in the affected areas.
Mitigation measures include the following:
Given the inter-state nature of the problem, I would like to recommend setting up a Centre of Excellence on Arsenic Problem Mitigation. This will pull together resources and expertise from different sources, provide advice, develop appropriate technical solutions to the problem of arsenic contamination, act as a referral centre for people from arsenic -affected areas, conduct epidemiological and other studies and develop IEC material. It will also develop simple methods to test water in arsenic c ontaminated areas. The centre will act as a resource for all states from where arsenic contamination is being reported.
I therefore request members to share:
Based on your experiences, members are requested to provide further information to guide the establishment of the Centre of Excellence on Arsenic Problem Mitigation:
Look forward to your inputs
Please see attachment below for the responses.