Mitigating arsenic related woes

Amirul IslambrArsenic in underground water is a formidable problem facing the country. According to a recent newspaper report some 50 million people in 61 out of the 64 districts of the country are exposed to the arsenic contamination in varying degrees. As the mitigation activities are working very slowly they are yet to reach 60 per cent of them.brIndeed, this news is distressing in view of the fact that a Bangladeshi inventor had devised an inexpensive technology to completely filter out arsenic from water lifted by tubewells. Internationally recognised, many countries with arsenic problem, are showing interest in it. Even before this invention, other inexpensive technologies have been around for some time. Therefore, there can be no excuse for not making the people in the affected areas aware of using such technologies.brFunds, flowing into the country to mitigate arsenic related distresses, need to be well spent to raise the awareness about the threat to health from arsenic and, more significantly, enable more and more people in the affected areas acquire the relatively simple devices to separate arsenic from drinking water. This is an activity where the government's own agencies and the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) should take bigger programmes to bring a much larger number of people under protection against arsenic contamination.brDrinking water contaminated with arsenic above the permissible level for long, can cause arseniocosis, a chronic illness that produces in human skin disorders, including gangrene and cancer of the kidney and bladder. Latest research have established that humans become susceptible to such diseases even for eating foods grown with arsenic contaminated water. brThe people in the rural areas need to be encouraged to drink surface water of ponds and other water bodies, which are free from arsenic, but after boiling it. Rainwater harvesting may be considered for the same purpose. The inexpensive technology should be popularised extensively throughout the country. For growing crops plans need to be implemented on a large scale to discourage the use of underground water and to encourage more surface water use for irrigation. All these activities need to be popularised through publicity campaign.