The government has reaffirmed its goal to make the country’s drinking water arsenic-free by 2013.
”Safe drinking water is a major problem in Bangladesh. We have to use more chemicals for more agricultural production to feed more people. Chemicals contaminate the water sources, so does arsenic. We will make the country arsenic free by 2013”, declared Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhit on 30 January at the biennial conference of the Bangladesh Chemical Society.
Dhaka has placed added emphasis on research and innovative technology to address the issue, as well as additional financial resources, he said.
His words come as more than 2,000 residents in the village of Garchapra, Alamdanga sub-district in Chuadanga District, fear developing arsenicosis after years of drinking contaminated water.
A recent survey conducted by the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) and the Chuadanga District Health Office has confirmed 130 arsenicosis cases in the village. Tube wells in the area showed high concentrations of arsenic.
In the country the arsenic levels are so high that the World Health Organization (WHO) has described it as ”the largest mass poisoning of a population in history”.
Naturally-occurring arsenic-contaminated water was first detected in Bangladesh in 1993 and is largely attributed to arsenic-rich material in the region’s river systems, deposited over thousands of years along with sands and gravels, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said.
Government health centres at sub-district level have been assigned the task of distributing vitamin-fortified anti-oxidant capsules for patients.
Out of 87,319 villages in the country, there are more than 8,000 where 80 percent of all tube wells are contaminated. Many of the first wells were constructed as part of a programme to provide ”safe” drinking water.
Although thousands of tube wells are known to be pumping arsenic-contaminated water, they remain the main source of drinking water for more than 70 percent of the country’s population.