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ShareLucknow: Water is the elixir of life. But in thousands of villages across Uttar Pradesh (UP) it is causing death and diseases.
Hand pumps in these villages are marked with red crosses to indicate that the water is poisonous. But left with no choice, villagers continue to drink the water and fall victim to diseases, including skin cancer. The reason for this hydrological scourge is the presence of alarming levels of arsenic in groundwater in several districts of the state.
In a recent survey of UP's 49 districts,the UP Jal Nigam (UPJN) in collaboration with Uniceffound that the arsenic content in groundwater at many places was several times the prescribed limit.
As per World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines, safe arsenic content in drinking water is 10 ppb (parts per billion) which works out to 0.01 mg per litre. But at several places in UP, the arsenic content measured up to 200 ppb. Government of India guidelines in this regard are more liberal and consider up to 50 ppb within normal limits.
"Apart from the complications arising from direct intake of arsenic-contaminated water, what is even more worrisome is irrigation done with this water. Crops and vegetables are infected with arsenic and people outside the affected areas are also falling ill," UPJN managing director AK Srivastava said.
Of the 18 affected districts, Ballia, Lakhimpur Kheri and Bahraich were the worst hit. In Ballia, the arsenic content in groundwater was 50 ppb or above.
Srivastava termed arsenic the "most injurious impurity" in water which causes arsenocosis, a disease in which the skin first becomes hard and later cracks up. In a number of cases, victims contract skin cancer. As per the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), arsenic diluted in water is a "suspected carcinogenic". Malnutrition, which is the bane of millions in UP, worsens the problem.
RS Sinha, a hydrologist at the Geological Survey of India, said arsenic can be found below the ground in newly-formed rocks in major river beds. Research on this subject was in a nascent state, he said. "It is intriguing why arsenic is found in water from some hand pumps while its content is negligible in others... a lot of work needs to be done to unravel this phenomenon," he said.
A UPJN expert said arsenic occurs in a particular layer between 150 ft to 200 ft below the ground. In rocks, it is in an insoluble form, but due to excessive groundwater exploitation, more and more iron and oxygen seeps underground making arsenic soluble.
Srivastava said, "The concentration of arsenic will increase as the water table goes down." The solution, he said, was shallow or surface water-based sanitary wells or piped water supply.
The UPJN is working on a contingency plan to curb this menace. A pilot project is in place in 250 affected villages in Ballia.However, experts said none of these measures would be effective unless rampant groundwater exploitation was stopped.
