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Metals and Genetics pp 41–65Cite as

Groundwater Arsenic Contamination and Sufferings of People in West Bengal, India and Bangladesh

Status Report Up to March, 1998

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Abstract

Groundwater is becoming the major source of drinking water around the world, especially in developing countries, to avoid microbial and chemical contamination from surface water. Another reason of wide use of groundwater is that because of its easy access and economic viability. Not only is groundwater being used for drinking, but for farmers in many developing countries like India, Bangladesh groundwater is their main source of irrigation. These countries have achieved a green revolution with the help of underground water. Earlier, India and Bangladesh could get only one crop a year, and that too was rain dependent. But now usually 3/4 crops in a year are common and the source of water for irrigation lies underground. Irrigation in West Bengal and Bangladesh using groundwater was first started around the sixties. In both these countries, there is no groundwater withdrawal regulation. As a result, groundwater exploitation goes on unchecked. In Bangladesh and West Bengal more than 95% of the Rural Water Supply Schemes (RWSS) depend on underground water. Dhaka (population abut 11 million) is the only city in the world where more than 97% of the domestic water requirement comes from underground water sources.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental Studies, Jadavpur University, Calcutta, 700 032, India

    Badal K. Mandai, Bhaja K. Biswas, Ratan K. Dhar, Tarit Roy Chowdhury, Gautam Samanta, Gautam K. Basu, Chitta R. Chanda, Kshitish C. Saha & Dipankar Chakraborti

  2. Dhaka Community Hospital Trust, 1089 Malibagh Chowdhurypara, Dhaka, 1219, Bangladesh

    Saiful Kabir & Sibtosh Roy

Authors
  1. Badal K. Mandai
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  2. Bhaja K. Biswas
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  3. Ratan K. Dhar
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  4. Tarit Roy Chowdhury
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  5. Gautam Samanta
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  6. Gautam K. Basu
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  7. Chitta R. Chanda
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  8. Kshitish C. Saha
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  9. Dipankar Chakraborti
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  10. Saiful Kabir
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  11. Sibtosh Roy
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dipankar Chakraborti .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Hospital for Sick Children, The University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Bibudhendra Sarkar

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© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Mandai, B.K. et al. (1999). Groundwater Arsenic Contamination and Sufferings of People in West Bengal, India and Bangladesh. In: Sarkar, B. (eds) Metals and Genetics. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4723-5_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4723-5_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-7140-3

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