The Hindu : Front Page : Analysis shows arsenic is high in water at Kiradalli Tanda

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Sunday, Jun 14, 2009
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Analysis shows arsenic is high in water at Kiradalli Tanda

T.V. Sivanandan

‘Prolonged consumption of such water will cause two types of rare skin cancer’

GULBARGA: The chemical analysis of samples from three of the four drinking water sources used by people of Kiradalli Tanda in Surpur taluk of Gulbarga district has revealed that the arsenic level in them is much more than the permissible level prescribed in Indian Standard Drinking Water Specification IS 10500.

According to a report submitted to District Health and Family Welfare Officer Nalini Namoshi by Chief Chemist of the Department of Mines and Geology Shashi Rekha, the permitted arsenic level in drinking water is 0.01 mg per litre and the samples from four water sources in the tanda had more than the permissible limit.

The report said that the arsenic level in water from a mini water supply scheme in the tanda was less than 0.01 mg per litre, but nitrate, which was harmful, was more than the permissible level. While the permissible nitrate level in drinking water was 47 mg per litre, the laboratory results revealed that the sample had 51 mg per litre, making it not potable.

The report said that the arsenic level in the sample from an open well in the tanda was 0.27 mg per litre as against the permitted level of 0.01 mg per litre. The arsenic level in the sample from a borewell in the tanda was 0.39 mg per litre. Another sample from a new borewell had arsenic content of 0.06 mg per litre, making water from this source also non- potable.

The chemical analysis of water samples showed that the levels of other metals and chemicals, including chloride, fluoride, sulphate, iron, pH, lead, aluminium, zinc, copper, manganese and calcium, were within the permissible limit.

The total dissolved solids and total hardness of the four samples were also within the permissible limit.

The sources in the Mines and Geology department told The Hindu that water in the tanda was not fit for drinking, cooking and other domestic purposes. People of the tanda should be given safe potable water immediately. “We are not surprised by the findings since people drink contaminated water unsuspectingly. The impact of contaminated water will be known only after five years,” they said.

The sources said gold was associated with arsenic content and Kiradalli region’s proximity to Hatti Gold Mines and availability of uranium, a radioactive material, close to the tanda, could also be one of the reasons for the high arsenic level in drinking water there. A team of experts from the Mines and Geology Department was likely to visit Kiradalli and surrounding villages to conduct a study.

Four persons from the tanda are suffering from rare skin cancer. Two persons have died of cancer. Prolonged consumption of water with high arsenic content will cause Basal Cell Cancer and Squamous Cell Cancer, two types of rare skin cancer.

Of the four persons undergoing treatment, two have lost one of their legs. The doctors amputated them to prevent the spread of cancer, according to sources.

The doctors do not rule out the remaining 43 persons suffering from pre-malignant dermatitis developing skin cancer if they continue to drink water from the same sources and immediate treatment is not given to them.

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