Eleven Uttar Pradesh districts are living with alarmingly high levels of arsenic in drinking water, scientists have concluded four years after a 42-year-old Ballia farmer died of arsenic poisoning.
Like Ballia, most districts affected now are in the east, though the problem appears to have travelled further north to Lakhimpur-Kheri, Siddharthnagar and Unnao, too.
In Ghazipur, Bahraich and Varanasi, bordering Ballia, the source of the arsenic is a geological zone, the Bengal delta plain aquifer — an underground layer of water-bearing rock.
Scientists say 10 years of exposure to arsenic may cause small freckle-like spots on the body, the early symptoms of skin cancer. Over time, there can be cancerous tumours.
The problem in Uttar Pradesh was first reported in 2003 by Jadavpur University’s School of Environmental Studies. The institute had found arsenic levels above 50 micrograms per litre, five times the limit deemed safe, in Ballia, Ghazipur and Varanasi.
It warned that the problem in the state was as grave as in Bengal, Bihar and Bangladesh, which have been plagued by the contamination for years.
The Central Ground Water Board has advised the Uttar Pradesh government to carry out “water mapping” in the affected districts. “Early corrective measures can save a lot of lives,” S.B. Singh, deputy director of the board, said.
Cabinet secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh recently met a delegation from Janhit, a voluntary organisation. “The government is finalising a groundwater policy and taking initiatives to mitigate people’s suffering,” he said.
Studies have shown that arsenic in soil and water has seeped into crops and brought down yields, particularly of rice.
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