The Independent
                                         September 11 1997

                                  Arsenic poisons Sylhet water

         Arsenic concentration in the ground water of the north-eastern
         zone of Bangladesh is alarming, according to a latest test study.

         As per WHO standard about 61 per cent of the tubewells in the
         region should be treated as are highly contaminated by arsenic.
         According to the tentative Bangladesh standard, however, about 35
         per cent tubewells are contaminated.

         The WHO standard for arsenic in drinking water is 0.010 mg/litre
         while the tentative Bangladesh standard is 0.050 mg/litre.
         Out of the total 1,210 tubewells tested, Arsenic concentrations
         in 471 were found to be in the range of 0.00l mg/litre to 0.010
         mg/litre, 337 were found to be in the range of 0.010 to 0.050
         mg/litre, 230 were found to be in the range of 0.050 to 0.100
         mg/litre and 172 were found to be above 0.100 mg/litre.

         The test was done by the Environmental Engineering Division (EED)
         of the Department of Civil Engineering of the Bangladesh
         University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). Samples were
         collected from various tubewells situated in the six districts of
         the North-Eastern zone of Bangladesh. The districts include
         Kishoregonj, Netrokona, Habigonj, Sylhet, Sunamgonj and
         Moulavibazar.

         The Ministry of Agriculture collected 1210 samples of which 375
         samples from Kishoregonj, 333 from Netrokona, 249 from Hobigonj,
         119 from Sylhet, 75 from Moulavibazar and 55 from Sunamgonj. In
         addition, four samples from the Mymensingh district were also
         supplied to the EED laboratory for testing.

         According to the test results about 38.9 per cent of the
         tubewells in the north-eastern zone of Bangladesh have arsenic
         concentration within the acceptable limit set by the WHO (0.010
         mg/litre) and about 66.8 per cent of the tubewells in that region
         contain arsenic within the acceptable limit set by the tentative
         Bangladeshi standard (0.050 mg/litre). Whereas, about 33.2 per
         cent of the tubewells in that region contain arsenic well above
         the tentative Bangladesh standard of which 14.2 per cent contain
         arsenic over 0.100 mg/litre posing a potential threat to human
         health.

         About 39.7 per cent of the tubewells situated in the Kishoregonj
         district contain arsenic within the acceptable limits set by the
         WHO standard and about 67.2 per cent of the tubewells contain
         arsenic within the acceptable limit set by the tentative
         Bangladesh standard (0.050 mg/litre). On the other hand, 32.8 per
         cent of the tubewells exceed that limit, of which about 14.9 per
         cent of the tubewells have arsenic above 0.100 mg/litre.

         Situation in Netrokona district is better than the Kishoreganj.
         Because about 50.8 per cent of the tubewells in the Netrokona
         district are within the WHO standard and about 72.4 per cent are
         within the limit set by the tentative Bangladesh standard. About
         27.6 per cent of the wells exceed that limit, of which about 14.4
         per cent of the tubewells have Arsenic above 0.100 mg/litre.

         Situation in Hobigonj district is worse than Netrokona according
         to the WHO standard as 37.3 per cent of the tubewells satisfy the
         WHO limit but according to the tentative Bangladesh standard the
         situation is better showing 71.8 per cent of tubewells satisfy
         the tentative Bangladesh limit. As a result, only 9.6 per cent of
         the tubewells in this district exceed the 0.100 mg/litre level.

         Condition in Sylhet district is similar to that of Netrokona. In
         the Moulavibazar district more than 50 per cent of the tubewells
         exceed the tentative Bangladesh standard of which about 29.3 %
         exceeded the 0.100 mg/litre level indicating a cause for concern
         in the district.

         In the Sunamgonj district the condition seems worse as 74.1 % of
         the tubewells exceed the tentative Bangladesh standard while only
         9.3 % are within the limit set by the WHO. However, it should be
         noted that compared to other districts a smaller number of
         tubewells (75 and 55, respectively) were tested in Moulavibazar
         and the Sunamgonj districts.