DRINKING arsenic contaminated water by a large number of people is the largest mass poisoning of a population in history, as per a declaration of World Health Organization. Intake of arsenic contaminated water through millions of tubewells across the country has been slowly driving 20 million people to a poisonous death, but our government, development partners, NGOs and civil society — all are completely reluctant to the highest environmental cancer risk ever found, a threat worse than Chernobyl and Bhopal. Arsenic contamination in tube-wells water was first detected in 1985 but an effective initiative is yet to take to avail alternative source of water for the people. Despite possessing cancer risk, tube-wells are setting up for drinkable drinking water while the government has no coordinated move to ward off the damages.
Professor Abul Hussam, a Bangladeshi-born US scientist, said in an interview with a daily that the government is not paying adequate attention to the health hazards caused by arsenic contamination. Even a decade ago, there were around 10 million tube-wells and the number has certainly increased with the rise of population. The government has no initiative than to aware people. There is no health facility to treat cancer patients due to drinking arsenic contaminated water, or any mega-plan to provide safe water. The scientist said as long as people in this country drink tube-well water, there will be arsenic problem and there is no simple method by which one can remove arsenic from the groundwater on a large scale.
A 2001 study indicated that people believe that groundwater is relatively free from microorganisms and, therefore, fit for human consumption without treatment. Another research showed that 57 percent people in the affected areas are exposed to arsenic as there is no clear indication that they have adopted safer methods for consuming drinking water. There are hundreds of villages where not a single tube-well is free from the arsenic contamination. Arsenic affects liver, kidney, heart and skin. It also makes dark-pimples on the skin and after a period of time, the spots turn into severe ulcers.
How long the government can stay reluctant to the vast majority people who are dying for drinking arsenic-mixed water? Time is running out hurriedly to aware people, to take realistic initiative for providing arsenic-free edible water, to take off people from the path of arsenic caused cancer and other diseases. Definitely, we are in health crisis which could not be mitigated by the government alone, so, scientists, researchers, civil society, media, well-off people, pharmaceutical company and development partners should come forward to save the nation. There is no crying need than providing arsenic-free water to the people, SOS to the world also.
