Abstract
In six districts of West Bengal: Malda, Murshidabad, Bardhaman, Nadia, 24-Parganas (North) and 24-Parganas (South), arsenic has been found in groundwater above the maximum permissible limit recommended by WHO. The current provisional arsenic level in drinking-water from WHO is 0.01 μl−1 (WHO, 1993). This water is used by villagers for drinking, cooking and other household purposes. Saha (Saha, 1984, 1985, 1995; Saha and Poddar, 1986) reported 1214 cases of chronic arsenical dermatosis from drinking arsenic contaminated tube-well water in 47 villages in these six districts. During January 1988-August 1995 a further survey was conducted by the School of Environmental Studies in these districts and the present estimation indicates that 44 blocks in these six districts are affected that includes 466 villages and many municipal areas. About 1.0 million people were drinking arsenic-contaminated water and about 200000 people have arsenical skin lesions. The total population and area of these six districts are 30 million and 34000 km2 respectively. Every month we are finding additional arsenic-affected villages. These 30 million people are at risk.
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Chowdhury, T.R. et al. (1997). Arsenic in groundwater in six districts of West Bengal, India: the biggest arsenic calamity in the world: the status report up to August, 1995. In: Abernathy, C.O., Calderon, R.L., Chappell, W.R. (eds) Arsenic. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5864-0_9
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