It's also where many Indians told me to visit if I wanted to see Ganga at her finest. "When the pollution conversation is shaped in this manner people immediately realize the way their actions go against their deepest values. Despite the countrywide respect for cows and the laws in some regions that carry a seven-year prison term for those caught killing them, India is home to an estimated 3,100 illegal slaughterhouses that export cow meat under the guise of buffalo meat to hide the sacrilege. Arsenic poisoning in the Ganges delta. Reverence for the cow is found in nearly all of Hinduism's major texts. A deep fear of social isolation was reflected in his letter (S1). Annual rainfall in these areas is approximately 2000 mm. "I had to make the very challenging decision to resign and leave that role," she tells ABC Stuckey J.W., Schaefer M.V., Kocar B.D., Benner S.G., Fendorf S. Arsenic release metabolically limited to permanently water-saturated soil in Mekong Delta. Uma Bharti, Modi's "Ganga rejuvenation minister," has even set a goal that the Ganges will be clean within two years. Evidence of arsenic-induced cancers from drinking water largely comes from ecological investigations and a few case-control and cohort studies. Thakur J.K., Thakur R.K., Ramanathan A., Kumar M., Singh S.K. Squamous cell carcinoma and multiple basal cell carcinoma are typical arsenic-induced skin cancers, while Bowens disease indicates impending skin cancer [16]. In the past, he could make approximately 700800 bricks per day, monthly earning about $100 on average, sufficient to provide a comfortable life for his family. Chowdhury U.K., Rahman M.M., Mandal B., Paul K., Lodh D., Biswas B.K., Basu G.K., Chanda C.R., Saha K.C., Mukherjee S.C. More than 400 million people live at the basin of the Ganges, making it one of the most important natural water resources in the world. Figure 1 shows arsenic-contaminated areas in the GRB. Most epidemiological studies report that an exposure to arsenic 300 g/L may cause internal cancers [53,54,55]. Bangladesh is located in one of the largest floodplain and delta areas in the world, formed mainly by three mighty rivers: the Ganges (2510 km), the Brahmaputra (2900 km), and the Meghna (946 km).The GangesBrahmaputraMeghna (GBM) catchment area includes parts of India, Nepal, Bhutan, and China (Tibet) as well as Bangladesh, and WebThe Indus, the Ganges, and the Brahmaputra In which directions do these rivers originating in the Himalayas flow? A high intake of arsenic through drinking water doubles the likelihood of age-specific health-effects, as the daily water intake per unit of body weight (mL/kg per day) of an infant is three to four times greater than that of an adult. A group of children suffering from arsenical skin lesions in Bangladesh. Hindus believe that bathing in the river helps to cleanse the soul. However, the significance of this information went unremarked at the time. Infants and children show fewer severe arsenical skin lesions than adults; however, they are more vulnerable to the toxic effects of arsenic than adults. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, http://kolkatasounds.org/old-kolkata-sounds/childhood/, https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=2RiNtZt5BlgC&oi=fnd&pg=PT199&dq=Encyclopedia+of+Environmental+Health&ots=9DB0wuIRjY&sig=KkxadWHczH3pKdz_TzjKjSlcgbM#v=snippet&q=Occurrence%20in%20groundwater&f=false, http://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/InSmallDoses/, http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/06/01/arsenic-in-drinking-water-deemed- afe-could-harm-mothers-and-children-study.html. Unable to load your collection due to an error, Unable to load your delegates due to an error. Target cancer risk assessment showed high carcinogenic risk from As, Cr, Ni and Pb as well as residues of DDT and HCHs. The other Indian states, including Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, have not been surveyed. WebHundreds of millions of people and a huge range of wildlife rely on the river Ganges. In the Chhattisgarh state of India, arsenic groundwater contamination is due to natural deposition of arsenic-rich pyrite, and its mobilization is due to microbial respiration of organic carbon [36]. 2.9 billion liters of wastewater from sewage, domestic and industrial sources are dumped Mukherjee A., Sengupta M.K., Hossain M.A., Ahamed S., Lodh D., Das B., Nayak B., Saha K.C., Mukherjee S.C., Pati S. Are some animals more equal than others. Bethesda, MD 20894, Web Policies Chemosphere. About 1,100 miles from Kanpur, in the state of West Bengal, is Sagar Island, where the Ganges drains into the Bay of Bengal. "The load of human waste in Gangasagar Mela is colossal with so many people defecating and bathing within three days on a 4-square-kilometer stretch," Tuhin Ghosh, a researcher at the School of Oceanographic Studies at Jadavpur University, told the Times of India. Groundwater arsenic contamination and its health effects in the Ganga-Meghna-Brahmaputra plain. Traditional water management such as dug wells, three-Kalsi arsenic-filtration system, and rainwater harvesting with control over bacterial and other possible chemical contamination could be sustainable solutions in most GRB regions. A systematic search through databases, specific websites and reports of pollution regulatory agencies was conducted. Amna Nawaz: The Ganga River, known as the Ganges under British rule, is one of the most revered waterways in the world, and also one of the most polluted. However, the legally enforceable standard was set at 50 g/L in the absence of alternative arsenic-safe sources of drinking water. HHS Vulnerability Disclosure, Help The appearance of arsenical skin lesions depends on various factors including the concentration of arsenic in the drinking water, amount of water consumption, exposure period, and the nutritional and health status of the person exposed to arsenic. Harvey C.F., Swartz C.H., Badruzzaman A., Keon-Blute N., Yu W., Ali M.A., Jay J., Beckie R., Niedan V., Brabander D. Arsenic mobility and groundwater extraction in Bangladesh. All the victims were exposed to arsenic levels up to 1474 g/L in their drinking water for at least five years. With that, he claimed he would clean the river by October 2019, the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's birth. However, the SOES debated that considering the severity of potential arsenic-induced health effects, even at concentrations below 50 g/L, a sincere effort should be made to overcome resource limitations [80]. official website and that any information you provide is encrypted While, the north-central and southern regions of the Ganges River delta show low As-hazard (<10 g/L), the western and north-eastern regions demonstrate elevated hazard level (>10 g/L). Mazumder D.N.G., Haque R., Ghosh N., De B.K., Santra A., Chakraborti D., Smith A.H. Arsenic in drinking water and the prevalence of respiratory effects in West Bengal, India. In 2016, the GAP launched the National Ganga Rights Act and began asking for support for it. Environ Earth Sci. Bioaccumulation of toxicants in fishes of Ganga water and potential health hazards to humans through consumption of tainted fishes was evaluated. There are now some radical cleanup efforts underway using innovative machines such as the floating trash skimmer made by Cleantec Infra. It is believed to be a goddess from heaven, and many Hindus believe that it has incredible healing powers. One of the biggest challenges in understanding arsenic release mechanisms and predicting groundwater arsenic contamination is the high temporal and spatial variability of arsenic in the GRB, along with diverse geologic and topographic settings. The poison of arsenicosis has snatched away and shattered the peace that his family once enjoyed. We deduced that nearly 6.4 tons of arsenic could seep into agricultural land through 3200 arsenic contaminated irrigation tube wells in the Deganga block, covering a total area of 200 km2 in the North 24-Parganas district of West Bengal, India (Table 1) [66]. Above all, a worldwide effort by the scientific community and public health organizations should be made focusing on cancer, vascular disease, and other complications of arsenic exposure. But understanding the impact of religion is key. It takes decades to centuries to accumulate a high volume of water in the deep aquifers; it is a gradual process in which rainfall plays a vital role in replenishing the deep aquifer. Chakraborti D., Sengupta M., Rahman M., Ahamed S., Chowdhury U., Hossain M., Mukherjee S., Pati S., Saha K., Dutta R., et al. In a recent study, the authors reported an average of 11.6 g/L of arsenic in shallow wells and only 6.2 g/L in deep wells; however, average arsenic concentrations were comparatively higher in water samples from hot springs (241.4 g/L), lakes (27.5 g/L), and streams (22.1 g/L) [27]. Efforts to Reduce Pollution in the Ganges River WebBangladesh, the Ganges (as Padma) and the Brahmaputra (as Jamuna) join at Daulatdia and flow as Ganges-Brahmaputra confluence, and later join with the Meghna before discharging into the Bay of Bengal (Fig. Terrestrial gamma radiation dose measurement and health Moreover, Geographical Information System and Remote Sensing tools and techniques promise to be extremely useful for pro-arsenic-mitigation policies by predicting potential arsenic contamination of areas, and cloud-based decision support systems for arsenic health risk assessment could spread arsenic awareness on a realtime basis, potentially covering a vast population [40,74]. Ganges Brims With Dangerous Bacteria WebWe performed extensive review of sources and level of organic, inorganic pollution and microbial contamination in Ganga water to evaluate changes in the level of various pollutants in the recent decade in comparison to the past and potential health risk for the population through consumption of toxicant tainted fishes in Ganga basin. Ganga water pollution: Ganga is now a source of cancer - Ground "People will starve themselves. Tagore R. Chelebela [My Boyhood Days]. Arsenic epidemiology and drinking water standards. She is from a village in Sonarpur near Kolkata. This site needs JavaScript to work properly. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the India and Bangladesh have ample surface water resources available through rivers, wetlands, and oxbow lakes; therefore, this region is known as the land of rivers. He's also sticking to the "toilets before temples" mantra that he's repeated on the national stage since his election. Additionally, awareness of the arsenic calamity, its associated health risks, and breaking a social tabu that arsenic calamity is not a curse of God is crucial. The Ganges absorbs more than a billion gallons of waste each day, three-quarters of it raw sewage and domestic waste and the rest industrial effluent, and is one We have discussed the major sources of various pollutants with particular focus on metal/metalloid and pesticide residues. And according to Uttar Pradesh's official data, tourism is on the rise, with thousands coming every month to watch this theater of death along the Ganges. Will the scientific community accept this decision of the BIS? Terrestrial gamma radiation dose measurement and health hazard along river Alaknanda and Ganges in India. health hazards doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0279993. Groundwater arsenic contamination was first reported in 1976 in Chandigarh and in different villages of the Punjab and Haryana states [8]. This ritual might have been an effort to prevent bacterial growth. Suite #7000 WebEnvironmental health hazards. Inclusion in an NLM database does not imply endorsement of, or agreement with, As a library, NLM provides access to scientific literature. What will this mean for One day in January 2015, black crows began to fill the gray sky like wild brushstrokes, so a group of villagers decided to investigate. Singh S.K., Vedwan N. Mapping composite vulnerability to groundwater Arsenic contamination: An analytical framework and a case study in India. Considering the permissible levels of arsenic in drinking water in developed and developing countries, the question must be raised: Are some animals more equal than others? Shrestha R.R., Shrestha M.P., Upadhyay N.P., Pradhan R., Khadka R., Maskey A., Maharjan M., Tuladhar S., Dahal B.M., Shrestha K. Groundwater arsenic contamination, its health impact and mitigation program in Nepal. government site. It's regarded as one of the seven holy places for Hindus, and it's here where the Ganges enters the plains of Northern India. Kanpur is 320 miles southeast of Haridwar. Elevated arsenic concentrations can also increase the prevalence ratio of chronic cough and bronchitis [49]. Islam F.S., Gault A.G., Boothman C., Polya D.A., Charnock J.M., Chatterjee D., Lloyd J.R. Role of metal-reducing bacteria in arsenic release from Bengal delta sediments. health Mr. Roy committed suicide as he could not run his business and could not repay a bank loan. Distribution and risk assessment of pesticide residues in sediment samples from river Ganga, India. Arsenic first seeps into the roots and finds a path to the grain through the stem. Floods have a very high impact upon homeless, moderate in terms of injuries, and low loss of life in comparison with other natural hazards (Foster 2000). The Ganga River system, originating in the Himalayas, carries nearly 15 billion tons of sediments containing arsenic and other trace elements, between 616% of the global annual sediment flux [7]. Sengupta M.K., Mukherjee A., Ahamed S., Hossain M.A., Das B., Nayak B., Goswami A.B., Chakraborti D. Comment on Limited temporal variability of arsenic concentrations in 20 wells monitored for 3 Years in Araihazar, Bangladesh. Diarrhea, often caused by exposure to fecal matter, kills 600,000 Indians per year, and waterborne diseases throughout the Ganges River basin, many a result of the The reason for the presence of arsenic is in all probably geologic. Current data analysis showed that Ganga water quality is deteriorating day by day and at several places even in upper stretch of Ganga the water is not suitable for domestic uses. Ahamed S., Sengupta M.K., Mukherjee A., Hossain M.A., Das B., Nayak B., Pal A., Mukherjee S.C., Pati S., Dutta R.N. While India and the world fight the COVID-19 virus, the Ganges River is healing. This sacred river offers clues to the spread of one of the worlds most daunting health problems: germs impervious to common medicines. With it, water needs are skyrocketing: The International Water Management Institute estimates that water demand in the country will increase 32 percent by 2050.