'Govt ready to tackle arsenic contamination'

Kolkata: State Water Investigation and Development minister Subrata Mukherjee said on Tuesday that the government has taken up the challenge of addressing the issue of arsenic contamination, which badly affects as many as 83 blocks in the state.

"Among the seven districts, South 24-Parganas and North 24-Parganas are two of the worst affected when it comes to arsenic contamination in water. Kolkata is not free from contamination either. Recently in Jadavpur, we examined water from a few deep tubewells and have found arsenic. We had sealed the tubewells. The time has come to prioritise control of arsenic and we have taken it up," said Mukherjee while addressing a one day national seminar on the issue of surface water in rural Bengal, organised by Sulabh International.

The minister expressed his disappointment over the role of the Centre in addressing the issue of arsenic, which is a major problem in Bengal as well as some of the other states in the country.

"Experts have opined that arsenic is tantamount to cancer. Increasing the armory should not be the parameter of a developing country. A developing country should focus on addressing the issue of contaminated water and arranging supply of purified drinking water to the people," he said.

According to Mukherjee, who held the charge of Public Health Engineering department till June 2018, said that the government is extracting water from perennial rivers and purifying it for providing arsenic-free purified water to the people of the state.

"In Bankura and Purulia, we have successfully extracted water from DVC and purified it through modern scientific method for supplying to people," Mukherjee added.

It may be mentioned that where the river remains dry during some time in a year, the government has started using submersive pumps to extract water and then purifying it in treatment plants before supplying to people for drinking.

"This method is time consuming and recently World Bank and ADB have come forward and said that they are eager to provide financial help to those governments which will undertake scientific projects for arsenic prevention," Mukherjee said.

Stressing on the need of massive campaign to control the spread of arsenic contamination, the minister urged the private sector, including the NGOs, to come forward for tackling the issue.

The minister claimed that good quality bacteria-free water alone can prevent the human body from as many as 70 diseases.