Bangladesh government not fixing arsenic crisis: rights group

Arsenic-tainted government wells are still poisoning an estimated 20 million people in Bangladesh, a number that is unchanged from 10 years ago, Human Rights Watch says.

A Bangladeshi woman collects water from the polluted Buriganga river in Dhaka. Twenty million Bangladeshi people are still drinking water contaminated with arsenic, two decades after the toxin was disShow more

DHAKA // Arsenic-tainted government wells are still poisoning an estimated 20 million people in Bangladesh, a number that is unchanged from 10 years ago despite years of action to dig new wells at safer depths, according to a report released on Wednesday.

Arsenic is a naturally occurring and toxic element found in the soil and groundwater of some areas of the world, including vast delta regions like Bangladesh and eastern India.

The new report by New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) blames nepotism and neglect by Bangladeshi officials.

It said they are deliberately having new wells dug in areas convenient for friends, family members and political supporters and allies, rather than in places where arsenic contamination is highest or large numbers of poor villagers are being exposed.

Government officials did not immediately comment on the findings.

The rights group based its report on a survey of about 125,000 government wells dug from 2006 to 2012 specifically to give villagers safer options, after an earlier survey of 5 million wells found millions exposed to water that exceeded Bangladesh’s arsenic contamination limit of 50 parts per billion.

The Bangladeshi limit, which is the same limit set in neighbouring India, is far higher than the World Health Organisation’s recommended limit of 10 ppb.

“What we found was basically poor governance,” said HRW senior researcher Richard Pearshouse, who wrote the report. “There is no technical problem that can’t be solved if the political will is there. But what we see is that the government is using many of its valuable resources in areas where there is no need for deep tube wells from the government.”

Scientists first discovered arsenic in Bangladesh’s groundwater in 1993, sounding alarm bells worldwide about a massive public health crisis pouring from some 10 million hand-cranked tube wells tapping water from underground.

The government took action and began testing many of the wells, painting them green if they were safe, or red if unsafe. International aid groups also invested funding to help the government dig more wells at safer depths.

Experts say wells in Bangladesh that go to depths of about 150 metres or deeper are usually safe, but most are much shallower, stopping at around 50m.

The deeper the well, the more expensive it is to dig, and many people in the impoverished South Asian country who have to build their own wells say they do not have the means to go deeper.

In the village of Khirdasdi, about an hour’s drive from Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital, people were well aware of the risks of drinking arsenic-contaminated water, but said they had little choice.

“We are poor people,” said Hazrat Ali, a farmer who has not found safe water despite setting up three tube wells. “There are no rivers and canals close by. From where shall we collect water? For this reason we drink this arsenic mixed water.”

Experts estimate that up to 15 per cent of Bangladesh’s 10 million tube wells, most of which are private, are likely to be contaminated.

At least 30 countries have been found to have arsenic in their groundwater, including the US, Canada and China.

* Associated Press