Arsenic in Murshidabad

Village:- Benekola
~ Sudip Sarkar
~Project Coordinator ~www.techhumanface.org ~Email- sxcsudip@gmail.com ~Mob:- +91-8961-353-991

Benekola

Visit of 28th March, 2014.

Village name:- Benekola G.P:- Hariharpara P.S :- Hariharpara District:- Murshidabad Distance:- 40 minutes from Berhampore by Tekker.

Arsenic Situation in Benekola

Several public tubewells. Installed by G.P. All tubewells painted RED 2
months ago; High Arsenic

Most villagers drink water

from RED tubewells; no other source available

Numerous private tubewells

for cooking, washing and bathing.

Effects in Benekola
Every villager is affected by Arsenic and has prominent Arsenic symptoms. February 2014: 5 people died due to Arsenic 2013: 13 people died due to Arsenic Many will die in coming months

Previous Arsenic Treatment Efforts

Community-Scale Two Arsenic Removal plants were installed and failed after running for a few days (lack of maintenance) Plants are defunct, columns in the dump PoU One group sold domestic filters No consumers use the filter; high cleaning requirement

Pal Trockner Arsenic Installation

Installation: January 2014 Initial: Many, satisfied consumers Now: Very few users Water Quality: Red, high iron Arsenic: 0.1505 mg/L The Permissible limit 0.05 mg/l.

Water is red. 7.5x above arsenic limit!

Theres no use of such filter, if it still provides Iron water- Community Member

Water sampling & testing:-

1. Water from a Panchayat Tubewell, marked as RED. [Ref. slide 10] 2. Treated water from a mini treatment plant, [Ref. Slide 7]

1. Arsenic- 0.2321 mg/L 2. Arsenic- 0.1505 mg/L

Harbauer Plant
Installation: March 2013 ARU between Amtala and Benekola Sajaldhara Scheme. Complete lack of maintenance. Water flow rate <30L/hr! No customers

Waste of taxpayers money!

THFs Objectives
Benekola 250 families Predominantly agrarian Electricity available. Tubewell identified Land donation offered Monthly fee accepted (Rs. 50) THF 15 years of success Patented HAIX technology. System fabrication Panchayat tubewell marked RED.

What does THF Need?

Binimaypara Treatment: Rs. 3 lakh Civil Structure Rs. 2 Lakh Serves up to 500 families Revenue 250 families @ Rs. 75/month Revenue: Rs. 18,750 Operating cost: Caretaker Electricity Maintenance Water testing Regeneration Loan Payments Rs. 3,000/month Rs. 1,000/month Rs. 500/month Rs. 200/month Rs. 1,000/month Rs. 10,000/month

THFs Arsenic removal plant at Binimaypara

Profit: Rs. 3,000/month. Loan Payback: 4.5 years

Local Contacts: Bulbul :- 9153762323 ( Villager of Benekola) Minarul Mandal :- 9593458307 (Villager of Benekola) kamarujjaman :- 9734973557 (Villager of Benekola) Palash :- 9734069945 (Local Congress Leader) Mannan Hossain :- 09868180499 ( MP of Marshidabad) Jakkir Hossain Biswas :- 9734832595 ( Amtala Water Testing Lab) Email:- amtalavos@gmail.com Mini plant Caretaker :- 7384662088 Prof. Abhijit Das (Economist):- 9433449642 (Kandi Raj College) email :- abhijit.dasecon@gmail.com

~ Sudip Sarkar
~Project Coordinator ~www.techhumanface.org ~Email- sxcsudip@gmail.com ~Mob:- +91-8961-353-991

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