Locals have no choice but to drink deadly arsenic

Locals have no choice but to drink deadly arsenic

NAWALPARASI, March 7 - Thirty-three-year-old Gyan Prasad Kami, of Kunuwar village in Ramgram municipality has already

developed hard patches on his feet and hands because of drinking water containing high level of arsenic from his tubewell.

He had been drinking water from his tubewell for the past 15 years. Even his wife Bijuli has shown similar symptoms. "It’s been three years since my skin was affected," said Kami.

The levels of arsenic in his drinking water was 200 parts per billion (ppb) - four times higher than the national standard and 20 times more than the standard recommended by the World Health Organisation. The national standard for arsenic in water is 50 ppb and the WHO recommended standard is 10 ppb.

There are 15 members in his joint family of whom four have developed skin hardening and discoloring of skin.

After undrinkable levels of arsenic were found in Kunuwar, the 70 tubewells which had been built to solve the water and sanitation problems were sealed off. The 110 households in this area now use only one locally dug well.

Rajesh Shrestha, a field monitor of the United Nation’s Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Nawalparasi district, said that about 15 per cent of the tube-wells in the election constituency three and four have arsenic content beyond drinkable limits. A handful of people in these areas are already showing signs of health problems due to long term drinking of high levels of arsenic.

Drinking arsenic-contaminated water over a long period results in various health problems including skin problems (such as color changes on the skin, and hard patches on the palms and soles of the feet). It can also lead to skin cancer, cancers of the bladder, kidney and lung, and diseases of the blood vessels of the legs and feet.

Similarly, 35-year-old Daya Sagar of Goini village in

Sunuwar has discolored skin on both his hands and feet. He has been drinking water from the public tubewell for the past six years.

It has already been three years since such symptoms came to the fore. Even his wife has developed similar symptoms. "After high levels of arsenic have been found in our village we have been drinking other water," said Sagar.

Forty-year-old Baune Devi and her husband Chatra Narayan Chawdhary also have been affected. Their two girls and six other family members have developed slight discoloring of skin and hardening of feet and hands.

They live in a joint family comprising 20 persons. But they face difficulty in getting access to safe drinking water.

All the tubewells in Goini community are past the drinkable levels. After arsenic was found in high concentration here, the 100 households have been sharing three dug wells.

The most important remedial action is prevention of further exposure by providing safe drinking water. Low arsenic water is only needed for drinking and cooking. Arsenic contaminated water can only be used for laundry and bathing.

For the 500 people in Goini, the three wells and the arsenic filters have not ceased their problems. "I was given painkillers after my hand began to pain," said Baune Devi, showing tablets that have been clearly given by a doctor who does not understand that arsenic related health problems cannot be cured.