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Arsenic's fatal legacy grows worldwide

The growing trend around the world to drink water from underground sources is causing a global epidemic of arsenic poisoning. Tens of thousands of people have developed skin lesions, cancers and other symptoms, and many have died. Hundreds of millions are now thought to be at serious risk. The latest evidence comes from the valley of the river Ganges in India, one of the most heavily populated areas on the planet. High levels of arsenic in groundwater were once believed to be confined to an area around the river delta, and Bangladesh in particular. But a new study by a leading expert shows arsenic has invaded the valley all the way to the Himalayas, an area that is home to half a billion people. And a new survey to be published this October reveals that arsenic is more widespread than previously imagined (New Scientist, 06 August 03).

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994024

(Added: 2003-08-12   Modified: 2005-06-14   Hits: 223)

Oxfam Water for Survival Programme

Water for Survival has joined forces with Oxfam New Zealand to address the growing need for basic water supply and sanitation in the poorest regions of the world. This creates the Oxfam Water for Survival Programme, which will support some of the world's poorest people to achieve their right to access clean water and sanitation. The programme will encompass long term development projects using local skills and practical technology. It will provide clean water and sanitation in humanitarian emergencies - and advocacy, to address the structural causes of lack of access to water and sanitation.

http://www.oxfam.org.nz/WfSfront.html

(Added: 2003-08-12   Modified: 2005-06-14   Hits: 178)

The dark zone

It is a story about underground water in India: when the nectar turns into poison. When a daily task of drinking water from the handpump becomes the source of crippling disease and death. This is not a "natural" disaster - where natural arsenic or fluoride, present deep down, just happened to make their way into drinking water. It is about a deliberate poisoning. Created by successive governments and multilateral agencies: all well intentioned in their quest for safer, cleaner water supply; all investing in boring into the ground, till they brought the dark zone into the light of daily life.

http://www.downtoearth.org.in/cover.asp?foldername=20030415&filename=anal&sid=1&sec_id=7

(Added: 2003-04-16   Modified: 2005-06-14   Hits: 151)

Arsenic crisis in South Asian water reaching "catastrophic" levels

KYOTO, Japan (AFP) Mar 16, 2003 Arsenic contamination of the water supply in India, Nepal and Bangladesh is afflicting more than 35 million people and if left unchecked, could reach "catastrophic" levels, a UN researcher warned Sunday. Hoping to attract attention to a crisis he said is on a comparable scale with the global HIV problem, Zafar Adeel of the United Nations University in Japan said the infected populations could not wait the same 20 years for the international community to act.

http://www.unu.edu/env/Arsenic/AFPReport.pdf

(Added: 2003-03-17   Modified: 2005-06-14   Hits: 189)