Arsenic Threat Looms Large in India: Well Switching Provides the Way Forward

Assistant Professor, Department of Regional Water Studies, TERI University By Chander Kumar SinghTERI University, New Delhi, India, Apr 20 2016 (IPS)An Indian Govt. Parliamentary Committee on Estimates on “Occurrence of High Arsenic (As) content in Groundwater” in December, 2014 stated that more than 70 million people in 96 districts in India is under threat due to As occurrence in groundwater. Chander Kumar SinghA new finding suggests that it’s not only Indo-Gangetic plain that is under serious threat of As contamination in groundwater in India. An ongoing study funded by PEER Science grant from USAID and National Academy of Sciences, USA in collaboration with Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, New York and TERI University, New Delhi tested 12790 handpumps/tubewells in 180 villages in Indus Basin of Punjab, India using field test kits. Out of these 25% of wells were found to be having As and Nitrate concentrations above WHO standards, while 8% of samples were found to be high in terms of fluoride. These results were attached on the handpumps/tubewells in the form of metal placards depicting whether it’s safe or unsafe for drinking.The groundwater contaminations with respect to geogenic contaminants specifically As is spatially heterogeneous and is confined to specific regions. Based on studies conducted elsewhere in South Asia, chronic exposure to As at levels encountered in groundwater of Punjab is likely to have markedly increased mortality due...
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