The office of the Comilla civil surgeon informed that it had recently detected more than 6,500 patients with arsenic contamination at 14 upazilas in Comilla.
According to them, the biggest chunk of patients came from three upazilas, namely Monoharganj, Laksam and Muradnagar. Over 4,500 patients were diagnosed with arsenic in these upazilas while fewer patients were found in the rest 11, namely Homna, Daudkandi, Debidwar, Chandina, Burichang, Brahmanpara, Chouddagram, Nangalkot, Titas, Sadar Dakkhin and Barura.
The information of the civil surgeon's office is supported by the findings of a study by the Comilla office of the Department of Public Health and Engineering.
DPHE engineer Firoz Alam Chowdhury said under that study, conducted between early 2010 and March 2011, they found 15,000 tube-wells in the 14 upazilas containing arsenic much beyond the acceptable level.
In Bangladesh the acceptable limit of arsenic in ground water is 0.05 milligram per litre while the World Health Organisation sets its limit in this regard at 0.01mg per litre.
The study also revealed that only two upazilas, namely Meghna and Comilla Sadar, of the district, so far, remained uncontaminated with the poisonous substance.
Firoz Alam Chowdhury further said that although they had marked the contaminated tube-wells red, a sign indicating water of that tube-well was poisoned with arsenic, in many places, people still continued to drink water from those as they lacked alternative drinking water sources in the area.
During a recent visit to village Dumuria of Manoharganj upazila, Mohammad Nabiullah, a villager, told this correspondent that it was more than three years since arsenic was detected in the tube-wells of their village.
'Until now no one approached us with any solutions,' he said.
Humayun Kabir of village Fatepur of Laksam upazila, said the DPHE had advised them to drink rainwater to avoid being poisoned with arsenic.
'But as people are not habituated to preserve rainwater they continue drinking water from the contaminated tube-wells,' he said.
Comilla civil surgeon Abul Kalam Siddique provided the following account of the patients who were diagnosed with arsenic contamination between early 2010 and the first week of March 2011: Monoharganj – 1833; Laksam – 1557; Muradnagar – 1175; Homna – 363; Daudkandi – 153; Debidwer – 231; Chandina – 245; Burichang – 16; Brahmanpara – 79; Chouddagram – 15; Nangalkot – 154; Titas – 56; Sadar Dakkshin – 633; and Barura – 114.
High levels of arsenic in human body may lead to cancers of the skin, bladder, kidney, and lung, and diseases of the blood vessels of the legs and feet, he said.
Source : New Age
