11 million people under arsenic threat
Seminar told
Eleven million people, around 12.6 percent of Bangladesh's population, are under threat of arsenic contamination as they live in 466 unions prone to arsenic.
In 2011, some 57,000 people were identified to have been suffering from arsenic-related diseases. Since 2009, an estimated 40 million people have not been taking safe water while 19 million people were found to be in immediate need of safe water supply.
The statistics were revealed at a seminar, “Arsenic Mitigation under Model Building for Safe Water Supply Service by Local Government Institution Project”, at the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) auditorium in the capital yesterday.
The seminar was jointly organised by Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), Local Government Division (LGD), DPHE and Asia Arsenic Network (AAN), says a Jica press release.
Speakers at the seminar said 50 percent of the country's shallow tube wells have not been examined since 2005.
Due to this, people are taking water without knowing the full extent of the arsenic contamination situation, they said.
In order to address the situation, Jica has supported the DPHE, LGD and AAN for the last 15 years. Jica has provided more than US$ 500 million in assistance in the water supply sector, said the press release.
Zuena Aziz, additional secretary of the local government and cooperatives ministry, addressed the seminar as the chief guest while Hiroshi Jigami, water supply policy adviser for LGD, delivered speech as the special guest.
The seminar was chaired by Sadeque Hossain, additional chief engineer of DPHE.
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