Punjab Newsline Network; Friday, 24 September 2010;
CHANDIGARH: The Central Ground Water Board confirmed the presence of high level of arsenic in the subsoil water in some cancer-affected areas of Punjab.
The amount of arsenic found in subsoil water goes beyond the permissible limit fixed by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Arsenic, a poisonous heavy metal element is the reasons behind the rapid spread of cancer in the Punjab, arsenic in water is one of the major causes for abnormal cell growth in human body.
The Central Ground Water Board had taken 32 subsoil water samples, most of them from the Mansa-Bathinda belt of the Malwa region during its second round of water testing.
The second round of testing was held to reconfirm the presence of arsenic in the subsoil water and also to check the presence of any other harmful matter in the water.
Besides arsenic, the board team has also found the level of fluoride beyond the approved limit.
The WHO has approved the upper limit at 10 ppb of arsenic in drinking water. In a water sample at Dhaipi village, near Bhikhi, it was 23 ppb and in another sample of water at the same village it was 16.1 ppb.
At Kotra Kalan, it was 12.4 and in Ghari-Bhagi village, near Bathinda, it was 12.9 ppb. At Meerpur Dhani, it was 15.9 ppb. However, it was stunningly high in two water samples taken at Bhamme Kalan. In a sample drawn from the bus station, it was 270 ppb and in another sample drawn from a hand pump of Leela Singh, it was 176 ppb.
Presence of fluoride in drinking water has also been found beyond the fixed upper limit, that is 0.5 to 1.5 mgI (milligram per litre), at many places. At Hero Kalan, it was found to be 3.72 mgl, at Dhaipi village up to 5.88 mgl and Kotra Kalan 11.9 mgl. However, it was shockingly high -- 20.4 mgl -- in a water sample drawn from Meerpur Dhani and 20.6 mgl in a sample drawn from Nangal Dhani village.
At some other villages, it was also found well beyond permissible limits.
In excess, fluoride not only causes dental flourosis but also it has been associated with Alzheimer’s disease and it can also cause a crippling bone disease called skeletal fluorosis.
Arsenic and flourine has been also found in water in villages of Sangrur.
Sangrur health department while responding to an RTI query, said that various tests conducted in the district has revealed that water in the areas of Shadihari, Shergarh and Rattriana contains chemicals like arsenic and flourine and is non-potable.
Earlier, 36-month study by senior professors of the Department of Soils of the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana had found the presence of arsenic in drinking water to be the major cause of cancer mortality in the malwa region.
The symptoms of arsenic toxicity develop over 6 to 24 months causing blackening and thickening of skin, occurrence of black spots on different parts of the body and skin cancer, amongst other health complications.
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