THE country's "gravest ecological disaster" is shaping up in West Bengal.
Concerned by the extent of arsenic poisoning, the National Human Rights
Commission (NHRC) has sought an
updated and detailed report on arsenic
poisoning in six districts - Nadia,
Murshidabad, Malda, Burdwan and the
Z4 Parganas (North and South).
The NHRC move came in response to
a petition filed by a Delhi-based advocate and a British human rights activist
who have asked the commission to look
into reported incidents of lakhs of
people getting disabled or dying because
they have to drink water from contaminated wells as no other source has
been provided by the government.
According to the petitioners, about
1,65,000 people were suffering from
incurable diseases and the lives of
7.5'-Iakh people were at risk. Water
samples from the affected districts have
shown an arsenic content 25 times
higher than the safety level prescribed
by the World Health Organization. The
commission has called for the report by
the middle of May.
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