KOLKATA:After protecting from open defecation, scavenging and painful life of widows of Banaras and Vrindavan, Sulabh International new initiative to protect the life from Arsenic related cancer in West Bengal .In this step peoples are getting safe drinking water from new technology,which cost is only 50 paise per liter.More than 2,000 villages across eight districts of the state are arsenic affected. Nearly a crore of the state’s population is believed to be at risk.
The ‘Sulabh Drinking Water’ project converts contaminated pond water into safe drinking water and can be sold at only 50 paise per litre in villages and nearby cities of the country.
Sulabh International founder And well known Social Worker Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak introduced “Sulabh Jal” in arsenic prone Madhusudan Kanti village under Gaighata in 24 Pargana district about 100 km away from Kolkotta.
This is an innovative model from a joint venture of Sulabh International and a French organisation ‘1001 Fontaines’, which though various stages of purification provide safe drinking water from any water bodies like rivers or ponds. In many places of West Bengal, people are forced to drink arsenic-contaminated water. “This is the first time in the World that we have succeeded in producing pure drinking water at a very nominal cost by this new technology and villagers may get direct benefit “,Says Dr .Pathak.
The pilot project in three districts of North 24 Parganas, Murshidabad and Nadia had jointly been established few months ago by the Sulabh and French organisation and trial run was proved successful in recent months.
The new water purification process has a capacity to produce 8,000 litres of potable water per day at a cost of 10 paise. “It will be sold at 50 paise after including other costs like distribution, storing, etc. Even people in neighbouring villages can also safely use this water,” Pathak said.
The installation cost of the machine comes to Rs 20 lakh, which was shared between the French organisation, Sulabh and the villagers. “The villagers and local NGOs are going to maintain this. It is a self-sustainable project with active participation from the villagers and generate employment.
Ground water in many district boarding Bangladesh of West Bengal are estimated to have been severely affected by arsenic contamination.
According to WHO, drinking arsenic-rich water over a long period results in various health hazards, including skin problems, skin cancer, cancer of the bladder, kidney and lung, besides other diseases.
The harmful chemical is still affecting thousands through contaminated poultry products and meat, according to a study by researchers at the West Bengal University of Fishery and Animal Sciences (WBUFAS). Chicken, mutton and egg samples collected from affected areas on the northern fringes of the city were found to contain more than five times the permissible limit of arsenic.
According to study Arsenic content in the water has touched 0.01 ppm in the affected area whereas the permissible limit was 0.05. According to the study, egg, goat meat, eggs and fish produced in the poultry and other farms of eight arsenic-prone villages in the North 24-Parganas district had much higher levels of arsenic than the human system could tolerate. While the chemical can’t affect the animals for it takes time to attack the system, those consuming the affected chicken and mutton were turning arsenic victims.
Arsenic interferes with cellular longevity by inhibiting an essential metabolic enzyme pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) complex which catalyzes the oxidation of. With the enzyme inhibited, the energy system of the cell is disrupted resulting in a cellular apoptosis episode. Biochemically, arsenic prevents use of thiamine resulting in a clinical picture resembling thia. Poisoning with arsenic can raise lactate levels and lead to lactic acidosis. It could reduce potassium levels in the blood and lead to a life-threatening heart rhythm problem.
As per state government data Kolkata gets 60% of its chicken and egg supply from the affected areas of North 24-Parganas. So, it is a cause for concern for both consumers and the poultry. The effects of arsenic poisoning (or arsenicosis) caused due to drinking contaminated groundwater peoples fears that her children and grandchildren are likely to meet the same fate as her, sooner or later.Thousands of peoples have developed skin lesions, so they cannot wear any clothes as there body itches all over.
Dr Vinay Goysl of All India Institue of Medical Science New Delhi explains “Long term arsenic poisoning usually manifests as black spots on skin followed by lesions. It can also cause neurological problems, pre-natal deaths and, in many cases, gangrene leading to amputation. Chronic arsenic poisoning can cause a wide variety of diseases, including cancer of the skin, lungs, kidney and bladder.”
