HOW TO COMBAT THE PRESENT ARSENIC CRISIS
The mistakes made in the past and that are persisting even today are due to the exploitation of groundwater
for irrigation without even trying to adopt effective watershed management to harness the huge surface
water resources and rain water. In West BengalIndia and Bangladesh, huge amounts of arsenic-free surface
water is in ponds, canals, rivers, wetlands, flooded river basins, and ox-bow lakes. Per capita available surface
water in Bangladesh is about 11,000m3. West BengalIndia and Bangladesh are known as the land of rivers and have approximately 2000mm annual rainfall. Instead of using those resources, groundwater is being pumped without proper management. Proper watershed management and villager participation are needed to combat the present arsenic crisis
