Arsenic in Ara

India Today report

People in 12 districts of Bihar are grappling with an unusual enemy: water. Thousands who depend on underground water from local wells or gushing from hand pumps have now been told that what they drink could in fact be poison.

High levels of arsenic have been found in the underground water across the state. Arsenic is a toxin that dissolves in the bloodstream, rendering the victim susceptible to diseases of the skin, bones and also cancer of the liver, kidney, gall baldder and the intestines.

A study by Bihar’s Public Health and Engineering Department (PHED) shows that of the 38 districts in the state, as many as 12 have an average arsenic content of 500 parts per billion (ppb) against the World Health Organisation norm of 10ppb.

Other than Patna, the places that have been severely affected include districts like Bhojpur, Bhagalpur, Vaishali, Katihar, Samastipur, Darbhanga, Buxar, Khagaria, Munger, Saran and Begusarai.

Arsenic, an odourless and tasteless metalloid, occurs naturally in the environment and is sometimes a by-product of agricultural and industrial activities.


Officials using testing kits in Maner, Patna“Arsenic is a toxic substance. The point of concern is that its impact on one’s health becomes evident only after prolonged consumption,” says state PHED Minister Prem Kumar.

To make matters worse, the response of the state Government has been lackadaisical towards the problem.

There are various theories that try to explain increased levels of arsenic in water, some of them being oxidation, deteriorating conditions of the aquifers and increased organic inflow. But according to experts, the rise cannot be ascribed to man-made reasons alone.

There are geographical reasons behind it as well. “If you draw a line on the map of Asia along the arsenic-affected regions of Bangladesh, West Bengal, Bihar, the Gangetic plains of Uttar Pradesh, Nepal and Assam, you would actually be touching the flood plains of Ganga-Meghna-Brahmaputra belt,” says Ashok Kumar Ghosh, professor at the department of environment and water management, at AN College, Patna.

Scientific evidence suggests that naturally-occurring arsenic has travelled down from the Himalayas and seeped into the soil of the plains.

Researchers believe that Himalayan rivers carry sediments that are rich in arsenic, which makes it easy for the metalloid to seep into the groundwater along the rivers’ course.

Arsenic was there right from the beginning, but it was present in a composite form, which was insoluble in water. “With excessive consumption of groundwater and some chemical changes, the insoluble arsenic has got converted into a soluble component. This has increased its level in water,” says Ghosh.


A warning about contaminated water in Ara, BhojpurThe study further establishes that older tubewells have greater chances of contamination. A similar pattern of tubewell contamination has also been observed in West Bengal and Bangladesh. “There is a health pandemic, but our system is fractured,” says an NGO official.

The village-level health officials are not concerned about the quality of water provided to the villagers. “We need to establish a link between arsenic cleaning and the cleaning of our water sources. Only then can we avail fruitful results,” adds the official.


India Today report