Leads to cancer and fluorosis that damages bones, teeth, muscles
West Bengal is the worst-affected State in terms of arsenic contamination
“The problem is being ignored because those who must address it consume bottled water”
About 1.80-lakh rural habitations are afflicted by poor water quality leading to serious health problems such as cancer and fluorosis that damages bones, teeth and muscles.
Arsenic contamination has been reported in nine States, fluoride problem in 18 States, salinity in 17 States, iron contamination in 22 States and nitrate pollution in nine States. Some States reported multiple contaminations in drinking water sources.
Stating this in response to a call-attention motion on the presence of dangerous material in potable water moved by Bharatiya Janata Party member Prabhat Jha in the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister for Rural Development C.P. Joshi said West Bengal was the worst affected State in terms of arsenic contamination.
Other affected States include Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Rajasthan.
The major fluoride-affected States are Rajasthan, Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Gujarat and West Bengal.
Accepting a suggestion by nominated member M.S. Swaminathan, Mr. Joshi said the time had come for a high-level scientific panel to advise the government about issues related to water contamination and on the technology required to address it.
The Minister did not agree with the contention of Mr. Jha that arsenic contamination had caused blindness in Bhojpur, Bihar.
“There is no correlation between the two,” he said. Mr. Joshi said States had been requested to accord priority to water-quality affected habitations and to ensure that funds provided by the Centre were utilised. He singled out Bihar for unutilised funds.
Earlier, BJP’s S.S. Ahluwalia urged Mr. Joshi to promote the use of indigenous technology for filtering contaminated materials.
Moinul Hasan of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) wanted West Bengal to be declared a special area for funding.
He said people didn’t want to marry their children to residents of the Murshidabad district because of arsenic contamination in water there.
Samajwadi Party’s Brij Bhushan Tiwari said the problem was being ignored because those who must address it were consuming “bottled water.”