Daily Star November 10, 1997 Arsenic affected Chandpur Villagers don't know what to do next By Naimul Haq, back from Chandpur People of most of the villages in Chandpur district are worried over use of tubewell water as they have been warned in widely publicised TV documentaries not to drink tubewell water. The implications are both good and bad. The good effect is that villagers are giving up the habit of using tubewell water for fear of developing arsenic-related diseases. The bad effect is misuse of water resources due to certain misconceptions. Chandpur is among the five districts in the country severely affected by arsenic contamination of groundwater. A preliminary survey by the Department of Public Health and Engineering (DPHE) showed that water of about 40 per cent of the tubewells tested so far in Chandpur contained arsenic and 83 per cent of those 40 per cent had concentration of arsenic above the permissible level of 0.05 mg per litre, according to sources in the DPHE. On an average, there are about 30 tubewells in a village in the district. But no arsenic contamination was found in deep tubewell water, the sources said. During a recent tour of the district, this correspondent found that villagers are well aware of the death of one Parimal Chandra Majumdar of Shahapur village in Hajiganj thana from suspected arsenic-related cancer. The news of his death from the disease spread beyond the district, upto neighbouring Comilla. Ever since the death of Parimal, people in Chandpur are concerned over the unfamiliar disease. This correspondent visited a house in Nijmehar village to see an affected person but could not meet her. "My daughter always avoids appearing in public" her mother said. "She goes to school covering herself to make sure no one sees the skin lesions she has developed during the past six years. She has virtually isolated herself," the mother said. Thana Nirbahi Officer of Shahrasti Md Zafar Siddiq while talking to this correspondent said, "People are asking all sorts of questions but we have no reply as we have no knowledge of the problem. The villagers want to know what is the solution if they can not use tubewell water and what happens when anybody develops arsenic poisoning." The TNO said, "People know about the disease. They are afraid of it. But they don't know what to do. This is what actually worries us." After the DPHE survey, the local administration took steps to warn the people about the effects of arsenic contamination of groundwater. Consequently, most of the people are giving up the habit of using tubewell water. The Unicef and the DPHE, through use of 'field test kits' have helped the villagers identify sources of safe tubewell water. But the real problem is the communication gap. People are in confusion what to do. Even officials in Thana Health Complexes are unable to give proper advice. Ruhul Amin who is also affected by the disease said, "We have stopped using water from our tubewell and are using water from another tubewell nearby. But what is to be done next? I have heard that there is no care for the disease, is it true?" Editorial: A Truly Good Turn A dependable headway has been made in solving the problem of arsenic contamination of ground water affecting almost a large part of our population. The World Bank will co-ordinate a two-year study to identify the causes of the contamination. Funded wholly by the British Department for International Development, this 800,000-dollar project comes in the nick of time to plug a big hole in Bangladesh's efforts to fight the arsenic threat to both life and society. Without identifying the physical agents and processes of the contamination, any action programme to minimise the danger must be founded on quagmire. This is not to say that the great work put in by the Dhaka Community Hospital in identifying the affected patients in the districts and offering them mitigation of pain and suffering is in any way less important. The World Bank study would take two years and action based on that may take another two. In the meantime more and more people in more and more areas will continue to be affected by arsenic in drinking water. As long as the contamination process is not stopped once for all hopefully in next five years' time, what will happen to the thousands of victims? And who will monitor the situation and enforce closure of contaminated tubewells and motivate people in looking for alternative sources of potable water? The answer that comes pat to mind is government. We have no doubt government. Particularly the Public Health Engineering Department is taken up with the job and some field work done by them has been useful. But the approach so far has been to minimise the danger and act as if they wouldn't unless forced to. Why is this so? If it is a big threat born of natural processes, why should government want it to look small? The World Bank took the all important step to investigate the causes and the money for that comes from Britain. Why didn't our government do this all? And if the WB initiative would not be forthcoming right at this time, which is already quit late, would the government sit snugly without going for the study?