As per a media reports on Thursday several million people may die in Bangladesh in the coming years as Human Rights watch high highlighted from diseases related to arsenic contamination as negligence and corruption have occurred in mitigating the major health challenge. If this exposure to arsenic contamination in drinking water persists, one to five million of the 90 million children estimated to be born between 2000 and 2030 will eventually die.
An estimated 43,000 people die each year from arsenic-related illness as per HRW. Despite such a frightening rate of death, the government is not paying adequate attention which is unjustified. A decade ago, there were around 10 million tube wells and the number has certainly increased with the rise of population. A report says at least 20 million people in this country are exposed to risks of this contamination. Apart from arsenic, there is another neurotoxin called manganese, and other toxic trace metals found in tube well water.
WHO has set 400 ppb (parts per billion) as a desirable quantity for manganese in drinking water. For arsenic it is 10 ppb which is disquieting. Study shows all samples of tube well water in rural Bangladesh that were examined contained high counts of bacteria and zooplankton, as well as fungi. Even high levels of arsenic was found in rice by many researchers when irrigated with arsenic contaminated water. Still now the country is failing to decide on a standard of arsenic in food crops. This means both the tube well and deep tube well water is not totally safe from arsenic.
Considering the adverse impact of arsenic on human health, the government in the late 90s conducted a nationwide tube well screening and patient identification program. But this program has failed due to procedural mismanagement and inaction of the authority concerned. Besides, the reason behind the government’s negligence over the years has made the scenario worse.
In addition, local scientific expertise has not developed and the irony is that from the inception of this crisis most research work in the field was conducted by foreign researchers. Experts say the government is not willing to spend money for arsenic mitigation as it is not an easy job to make sure people get safe drinking water. Actually the crisis is so massive in terms of the numbers of people affected by it that it is very hard for the government to handle it without a plan.
Moreover, the government is not resourceful enough to address the problem. An awareness campaign and a long-term plan to develop surface water as a potable source are also necessary. In the government policy agenda, corruption and mismanagement have terrifyingly been the impediment to the success of arsenic contamination programs. Government should curb it at any cost. Unless the government does it with all its heart, millions of Bangladeshis will die from preventable arsenic-related diseases.
