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1.1 Historically arsenic is known as a poison. It does
not often present in its elemental state but is more
common in sulfides and sulfosalts such as Arsenopyrite,
Orpiment, Realgar, Lollingite and Tennantite. Due to
abundance of these arsenic bearing ores and the rarity
of native arsenic, it is not an important ore itself.
Arsenic is used in industry as a wood preservatives
and in paints, dyes, metals, soaps, insecticides and
semi-conductors. Apart from its natural occurrence it
is also released into the environment through burning
fossil fuels, paper production, cement manufacturing
and mining activities.
1.2 Arsenic (AS) exists in several forms, which vary
in toxicity and occurrence.
The metallic form of arsenic (0 valency) is not
absorbed by the stomach and intestines and does not
exert adverse effects. On the other hand, a volatile
compound such as AsH
3
is toxic, but is not present in
water or food. Moreover, the primary organic forms
(arsenobetanine and arsenocholine) found in fish and
shellfish seem to have little or no toxicity.
Arsenobetanine quickly passes out of the body
through urine without being metabolized to other
compounds. Arsenite (+3) and arsenate (+5) are the
most prevalent toxic forms of inorganic arsenic that
are found in drinking water. Arsenite As(+3) in
reduced state in inorganic is a toxic pollutant in natural
environment and is more soluble and mobile than the
oxidised state of inorganic arsenic, arsenate As(+5).
1.3 Intake of drinking water having arsenic
concentration beyond the permissible limit of 0.05 mg/
lit has deleterious effects on human health viz.,
cardiovascular (heart failure) problem, gastrointestinal
(burning lips, painful swallowing, thirst, nausea, and
severe abdominal colic), hematological effects
(anemia and leucopoenia), hepatic effects, renal
effects, neurological
effects (headache, lethargy,
mental confusion,
hallucination, seizures and
coma), dermal effects (skin
disorder, hyperkeratosis),
carcinogenic effects ( lung
cancer) etc.
Arsenic Pollution in West Bengal
D. Elangovan
1
& M. L. Chalakh
2
2. Extent of problem in West Bengal
In West Bengal, during 1980s, some cases of arsenical
dermatosis in the districts of North 24 Parganas, South
24 Parganas, Nadia, Murshidabad and Burdwan were
reported. By the end of December 2001, this problem
spreads from few villages to 2065 villages of 75 blocks
in 8 districts. About 10 % of the total population of
the State is exposed to the above risk. It can be
observed from the map below that there is increase
in number of incidences with the time.
The details of the extent of the problem (as on
December 2001)in West Bengal are given below.
Carcinoma
1

General Manager, HO, NABARD
2
Assistant Manager, West Bengal RO, NABARD
According to the studies so far made, the cause of
arsenic pollution of ground water in West Bengal has
been attributed to the hydrolithological phenomena.
Sr. District No. of No. of Population at
No. blocks villages the village
affected
1 Malda 7 229 696822
2 Murshidabad 18 354 1343866
3 Nadia 17 541 1743889
4 North 24 Parganas 19 472 1884676
5 South 24 Parganas 9 409 964431
6 Howrah 2 4 107951
7 Hooghly 1 18 37678
8 Bardhaman 2 38 101171
Total 75 2065 6970484
Identified upto
May 1993.
Further identified upto
September 1995.
Further identified upto
December 1995.
Further identified upto
December 2000.
Further identified upto
December 2001.
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3. Source of arsenic in groundwater
3.1 The source of arsenic in groundwater can be
traced out by establishing the relations between the
river system (drainage pattern), the area from where
the rivers brought sediments i.s. parent materials. In
this regard Geological Survey of India and Central
Ground Water Board have done commendable job
and come out with certain findings.
3.2 The problem of groundwater pollution by arsenic
is found in the interfluvial region of the Bhagirathi-
Hugli and the Jalangi-Ichamati rivers lying mostly in
the eastern part of the Bhagirathi-Hugli river of West
Bengal. The arsenic contamination in ground water
beyond permissible limit of 0.05mg/l has been found
within the shallow aquifer (20-60m below ground
level). Apart from this area, other areas where higher
incidence of Arsenic has been reported are four blocks
(adjacent to the river Ganga) in Malda district,
Purbasthali block of Bardhaman district and Balagarh
block of Hugli district.
3.3 During the phases of deltaic sedimentation in the
southeastern part of West Bengal, rest of the Bengal
shelf was under the influence of fresh water
sedimentation. The system of rivers responsible for
this fresh water sedimentation could be the precursor
of the Ganga, which might have been flowing into
the Bengal plains through the Garo-Rajmahal gap.
A number of rivers like the Damodar, the Rupnarayan
etc. flowing in the Bengal plains in a southeasterly
direction for a considerable distance turn sharply to
the south in the southern part of West Bengal. Thus
the present drainage pattern responsible for sub-
recent to recent sedimentation in West Bengal might
have been caused due to 1) a regional southeasterly
slope of the basin, caused to some extent, by
movements on the hinge-zone located at the edge of
the shelf and 2) an increasing rate of southerly tilt of
the West Bengal part of the basin due to relatively
greater rate of subsidence of the southern part of the
hinge through the Tertiary and recent times.
3.4 The river system and its Sedimentation
The affected area is a part of the Ganga Brahmaputra
delta having succession of Quaternary sediments of
varying thickness. The deltaic region of Bengal formed
the seaward continuation of the Bengal basin, which
is bounded on three sides west, north and northeast
by pre-cambrian crystalline rocks and on the eastern
side by tertiary hill ranges of the Assam-Burma arc.
This erosional history of the rivers and their numerous
tributaries undergoing changes in the position of their
sources several times during the epoch valley
alluviation. These changes left irregularities on the
alluvial plain, which controlled hydrographic pattern
and created environments in which the sediments
were deposited.
With the beginning of the Himalayan orogeny crustal
down wrapping along the northern margin of the
peninsula and south of the newly formed mountain
ranges gave rise to a basin in the nature of a foredeep
where concomitantly with the formation of the
mountain range extensive sedimentation took place.
By middle Tertiary times the South Bengal basin was
mainly getting sediments from Eastern part of the
Peninsula comprising the Chotanagpur and the
Assam Plateau. In he Tertiary period the sediments
brought down from Chotanagpur plateau including
Rajmahal hill area by Ajoy-Damodar system of rivers
played the most important role in filling up the
western margin of the Bengal basin. By the end of
the Mid-Tertiary period the major uplifts of the
Chotanagpur Plateau were over and the later
movements were of much reduced magnitude. As a
result, the rate of sedimentation during the Tertiary
period was considerably reduced. The formation of
Garo-Rajmahal gap in the Pleistocene completely
changed the picture of sedimentation in the Bengal
basin. A tremendous rate of growth started in south
Bengal as a result sediments of northern rivers
getting deposited there.
The source of sediments deposited within last 2000
years could be from northern Himalayan provinces,
metamorphic terrain of the Chotanagpur plateau the
meta-sedimentary rocks of Eastern Himalaya. In
eastern Himalayan foothills, the existences of
Arsenopyrite Veins were reported at the altitude 1200
m above mean sea level. The Tista, Torsa and other
tributaries of the Brahmaputra river have cut across
the Darjeeling Coalfields and could carry pyrites,
arsenopyrites etc., from the exposed coal seams
occurring all along the eastern Himalayan foothills.
The basaltic rocks of Rajmahal area lying in the north-
western part of the delta might have also supplied
sedimentary detritus. Again, all the easterly flowing
river cutting across Raniganj and other coalfields
might also be responsible for bringing arsenic
minerals from the mine workings.
The heavy mineral assemblages from sub-surface
sediments of Habra sediments of Habra block, North
24 Paraganas district in light grey micaceous fine to
medium sand are kyanite-garnet-staurolite-biotite-
tourmaline-Chlorite-Hornblende-Epidote and those in
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Reddish brown sand are staurolite-garnet-sillimanite-
opaque tourmaline-kyanite-biotite-chloride-epidote.
In both the cases the source materials denote highly
metamorphosed rocks. XRD analysis of sediments
also indicates major quantities of quartz and feldspar
with illite and chlorite clay minerals. Arsenic was
observed to have been deposited as adsorbed
primary metal on sand grains of biotite and quartz
with a few scattered grains of arsenopyrite.
Both in Murshidabad and North 24 Paraganas district,
concentration of arsenic in acid leachate (pH 2.0)
and alkali leachate (pH 12) was highest in the clay
followed by sandy clay and lowest in sand. A striking
difference between the sediment samples of 24
Paraganas and that of Murshidabad district is that in
the former alkali leachates are appreciably higher than
in the acid leachates while in the later the acid
leachates are higher than the alkali leachates.
It has been confirmed from EPMA and that there is
LAMMA study the presence of arsenic in Pyrite (Fe
S2) in some samples of North 24 Paraganas district.
The decomposition of arsenic rich pyrite results in
the formation of Fe 3+ ion which act as catalyst for
the further decomposition of pyrite.
4. Aquifer characteristics
Groundwater with higher concentration of arsenic
generally occurs within 20-80m depth zone,
commonly known as shallow aquifers. The deeper
aquifers are by and large free from arsenic, except at
a few places where no perceptible clay layer separates
the lower one from the upper aquifer. The aquifer
characteristics of both shallow, deep, unconfined and
confined aquifers are given below.
5. Causes of High incidence of Arsenic in
Groundwater
5.1 Some of the research workers believe that
leaching of arsenic in groundwater seems to have
been influenced by the number of interacting factors.
5.2 During the eighties there was a remarkable
change in the minor irrigation sector due to rapid
growth in Agro-commercialisation. Cultivation of
Summer Paddy (Boro) expanded in the seven
districts of South Bengal with an unpredictable rate
each year. The Boro cropping is almost dependent
on the tubewell irrigation. Immediate manifestation
of that agro practice was lowering of ground water
level at alarming rate.
5.3 As discussed in preceding paragraphs, the
ground water occurring mainly within the shallow
zone (20-60m bgl) is characterized by high arsenic
(>0.5 to 1 or above mg/l) and the principal source of
arsenic is the arsenic sulphides minerals deposited
alongwith clay, peat, with iron in the reducing
environment. The lowering of groundwater at rapid
rate during summer season causes aeration of aquifer
oxidized the arsenic sulphides, makes it water soluble.
It percolates from the subsoil into water table during
monsoon.
5.4 However, the cause of arsenic contamination in
groundwater is still a debatable topic. Hence, it is
necessary to study extensively the groundwater
reservoir condition, mode of recharge-discharge
relationship, groundwater movement characteristics
in time and space and to determine dissolved oxygen
and oxidation reduction potential in groundwater to
appreciate the cause of such arsenic concentration in
groundwater.
6. Efforts made by State Govt.
6.1 The Govt. of West Bengal constituted a Steering
Committee (First Committee) in May 1988 to examine
and investigate the Arsenic contamination ofground
water in the districts having reports of such
contamination. TheCommitteesubmitted itsfinal
report in 1991 with the following major
recommendations;
Only the deep 3rd aquifer should be tapped for
drinking water supply.
The water in new tube wells should be tested
for Arsenic prior to commissioning.
The yield from the 3rd aquifer should be so
regulated as to avoid large-scale vertical leakage
of Arsenic-rich water from the Upper Zone.
District Depth Range Transmissivity Storativity(s)
of Aquifer in (m
2
/day) (T)
meters
Malda 20-95 758-2976
Murshidabad 26-75 4512.10 3.89x10
-3
70-118 7255.0
Nadia Within 50 790-4000 1.1x10
-2
to
5-150 5200 -4.38x10
-4
24 North Parganas 10-50 1000-3000 1.1x10
-3
to
-5.6x10
-4
70-195 4500-8000 7.3x10
-1
to
-3.5x10
-4
24 South Parganas 236-276 1725 1.5x10
-3
Howrah 150-230 446-1872
Hughly 20-60 3000-5000 101x10
-3
to
4.6x10
-3
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The Committee also recommended further studies:
- To detect the spread of Arsenic contamination
to newer areas
- Finding out appropriate Arsenic removal
technology
6.2 Another Committee was constituted in April 1992
as a follow up of recommendations of the Steering
Committee with the following terms of reference;
The recommendations in the report submitted in
October 1994 are as follows:
a) Safe depth of aquifer for tube wells in five arsenic
affected districts (except Malda).
b) Treatment for ground water / utilization of surface
source for Malda District.
c) Development of domestic filters to be fitted in
hand pump with safe sludge disposal
arrangements.
d) Development of large scale Arsenic Removal
Plants with sludge disposal arrangement.
e) Change of cropping pattern requiring less ground
water for irrigation.
f) Epidemiological, clinical and therapeutic studies.
g) Study the effect of chronic arsenic toxicity in
animals.
h) Study the impact of arsenic rich ground water in
food chain.
i) Setting up of District and State Level Laboratories.
j) Research on exact cause of arsenic
contamination of ground water.
k) Monitoring of ground water quality at least four
times in a year.
l) Provide adequate fund and other supports for
investigation of renal effects.
6.3 TheState Government collected information
from different countries who had encountered
problem of arsenic pollution and the
remedialmeasures taken by them. Interaction was
made with experts from U.S.A, U.K., Germany,and
China etc. toobtain the appropriate technology.
TheGovernment ofIndia has also been requested
to come in touchwith these countries and have the
necessary feed back fromthem.
6.3 Progress made so far
Several methods have been developed to remove
arsenic from groundwater by the Public Health and
Engineering Department (PHED), Govt of West Bengal,
All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health,
Tropical School of Medicines (S.T. M.), Calcutta and
School of Environmental Studies, Jadhavpur
University which are indicated as follows.
6.3.1 Arsenic Removal Plant (ARP) fitted directly
with Hand Pump
This has been developed by PHED, GoWB by using
adsorption technique. These ARP are functioning
under continuous flow system and it is attached with
the hand pump. Field studies conducted in arsenic
affected villages indicated satisfactory performance
of these units.
About 1000 such units at the end of 31
st
March 2002
had been installed by the PHED and Zilla Parishad,
benefiting around 2,50,000 population in the arsenic
affected districts viz., Murshidabad (702 units), Nadia
(32 units), North 24 parganas (175 units), South 4
parganas (25 units), Malda (62 units) etc.
6.3.2 Arsenic Removal Plant for piped water supply
scheme.
There are three such plants constructed by the GoWB
out of the State Funded Action Plan as on 31
st
March
2002 at Sujapur, Kaliachak block of Malda district,
Dhaititha, Basirhat block of North 24 Parganas district
and Gobardanga of North 24 Parganas district
benefiting around 0.70 lakh population.
At the Sujapur ARP, the content of arsenic and iron
was reduced from 0.2 mg/lit 0.25 mg/lit to 0.02 mg/
lit 0.03 mg/lit and 1.7 mg/lit - 2 mg/lit to 0.2 mg/lit
0.25 mg/lit respectively after installation of ARP.
Sujapur Arsenic
removal Plant
Clariflocculator
6.3.3 Surface Water Projects
Various surface water projects aiming to give safe
drinking water are under construction viz., Surface
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Water Project in South 24 Parganas covering 2.658
million population of 8 blocks, 2 municipalities and
18 non municipal towns., Rural Supply Water Project
in North 24 Parganas covering population of 7.50 lakh
population of 4 blocks, Surface Water Project in
Malda covering 8.17 lakh population etc.
6.3.4 Domestic Filters
Various types domestic filters have been developed
by the AIH &PH, PHED. These filters are fitted with
sand as well as candle. School of Environmental
Studies, Jadhavpur University have also developed
such filters fitted with specially manufactured
candles. These candles are fitted with tablets of
chemicals, which are disposable.
6.3.5 AMAL Arsenic Removal Units
Bengal Engineering College has developed Arsenic
Removal units which were constructed using the
conventional domestic candle filters. About 7
AMAL Arsenic Removal units were installed by the
college in 3 affected villages in the district of 24
Parganas(N).
6.3.6 As per the estimates, as on 31 December 2001,
about 45 million population had been benefited from
the different arsenic mitigation schemes.
7.0 Suggested Role of NABARD
7.1 R&D Support
Although the arsenic problem is about two decades
old and we are deeply concerned with the arsenic
contamination of drinking water, surveys and
detailed studies are not yet conducted on the
amount of the arsenic in irrigation water and
consequent entry of the element through food into
the bodi es of humans and ani mal s (through
vegetables, foodgrains etc.). This aspect can be
studied under R&D grant assistance. Similarly, cause
of arsenic contamination of ground water can also
be considered under R&D grant assistance to the
Universities, NGO which are already working in this
field. This assistance can also be provided to
popularize the low cost arsenic removal devices
prepared by PHED, GoWB, Jadhavpur University,
Bengal Engineering College.
7.2 RIDF Assistance
Under RIDF-X, a drinking water project involving a
project cost of Rs. 180 crore was sanctioned in the
Murshidabad, Nadia and North 24 Parganas districts.
The project will be benefiting approximately 30 lakh
population for the design year 2027. Similar kinds of
projects can be sanctioned in other affected districts.
7.3 Encouraging Surface Water schemes and Rain
water harvesting
The surface water schemes viz., Lift Irrigation
Schemes etc., for irrigation and drinking water on
location specific basis may be encouraged in the
affected districts.
In addition to this, Rain Water can be harvested by
construction of water harvesting tank (Farm Pond) in
the command of the farmers and can be utilized in
the water stress period. The availability of water in
the farmers field during water stressed period will
definitely help to avoid crop loss and further, these
structures can be used to generate additional income
by taking pisciculture. This can be achieved by proper
implementation of the recently announced Rain Water
Harvesting Scheme for SC and ST Farmers. While
preparing the banking plan, due care has already been
taken while allocating targets to these districts. For a
wider benefit there is need to announce separate
scheme or to extend the present scheme to other
farmers also.
There is a need to popularize such scheme to minimize
the stress over the Ground Water and further
contamination of arsenic in groundwater can be
arrested.
Reference:
1. High incidence of Arsenic in Ground water in
West Bengal report published by CGWB, GoI,
Faridabad (July 1999)
2. Various articles available on websites.
3. Material available on the website of Govt. of West
Bengal, Deptt. of Public Health and Engineering
Department (PHED) .
4. Website of School of Environmental Studies,
Jadhavpur University