he state of
West Bengal has been plagued by arsenic contamination for more than 30
years. Cases of arsenical dermatosis in the districts of North 24
Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Nadia, Murshidabad and Burdwan were first
reported during the 1980ies. Arsenic contamination of groundwater is
attributed to geomorphological reasons, the principal source of
contamination being the leaching of arsenic from arsenic sulphides
minerals deposited along with clay, peat and iron. Lowering of
groundwater level at a rapid rate during the summer season causes
aeration of aquifer which oxidises the sulphides, thus making arsenic
water soluble. Thus over extraction of groundwater from the shallow
aquifer is postulated to be a reason for the arsenic contamination in
groundwater.
Arsenic concentration above the limit of 0.05 mg/l in
drinking water is harmful to human health. Being a ‘slow poison’,
consumption of ground water with elevated arsenic levels over a
prolonged period of time can lead to skin lesions, hyperkeratosis, melanosis, cancer in different organs and several other health
disorders, which can even cause death.
As majority of the population of West Bengal is
dependent on groundwater for drinking purposes, spreading awareness
about the ill effect of consuming arsenic contaminated water and about
ways to mitigate the problem of arsenic contamination should be one of
the priorities.
Heading in this direction, India Water Partnership
with the support of Eastern Zonal Water Partner namely Kalyani Institute
for Study, Planning and Action for Rural Change (KINSPARC) undertook a
study on ‘Water, Sanitation and Health’ in some selected villages of
Nadia district of West Bengal during 2010.
KINSPARC conducted a series of interactions with
villagers from two gram panchayats and these two villages were
identified for in-depth study, Iswaripur in Sarati and Chandamari in
Kanchrapara. In both the locations, a series of meetings were conducted
on problems commonly faced by the villagers, namely arsenic
contamina-tion in the groundwater, sanitation, health, and livelihood
facilities.
In Iswaripur, KINSPARC called the villagers for
awareness meetings, and in Chandamari, apart from conducting similar
meetings, water quality testing was also done on all 104 tube wells.
Water test samples from the wells were grouped into three categories:
(i) "Safe": Arsenic concentration below 50 micro
gm/liter, 28 tube wells;
(ii) "Moderately safe/unsafe": around 50
microgram/liter: 52 tube wells.
(iii) "Highly unsafe": above 50 mg./liter, 24 tube
wells;
Water from seven public deep tube wells was also
tested and found free from arsenic.
The KINSPARC team prepared a detailed pictorial map
showing the location of the wells and labelling the wells as
safe/moderately safe/ highly unsafe according to the concentration of
arsenic in the water as explained above. The map depicting the quality
of water was distributed among all the villagers for their reference.
The conducted tests show that all the shallow tube
wells are arsenic contaminated to varying degrees. As advised by their
leaders, villagers now generally use water from the deep tube wells for
drinking while shallow and medium deep tube well water is used for
non-drinking purposes, e.g. washing, cleaning, bathing etc. Some time
after the study had been conducted it was observed that the local people
became more aware of problems associated with the arsenic contamination
of water. Earlier, a majority of the people in the village were either
ignorant or indifferent but at present most of them are highly conscious
of the problem and anxious about finding a lasting solution.
These workshop-cum-interaction meetings, especially
because of the participation of village women who bear the main burden
of water sourcing for the households, helped generate sufficient
awareness among the ambivalent villagers, many of whom had earlier not
been aware of the importance of safe drinking water. Hence, awareness
and attitudinal changes among people generated by India Water
Partnership through KINSPARC may be interpreted as a step towards
mitigating the threat of an impending serious health threat to the
community. q