London, July 27:
Indian-born academic Bhaskar Sengupta is to lead a top British scientific team to conduct research and training aimed at preventing groundwater arsenic poisoning in eastern India, Queen's University Belfast said Monday.
Sengupta, who teaches environmental engineering at Queen's, led a team of European and Indian scientists who last year developed a low-cost technology to deliver arsenic-free water to affected areas.
Queen's has now been selected to give training to thousands of people who will learn how to use the equipment and improve environmental conditions, the university said.
More than 70 million people in eastern and northeastern India as well as Bangladesh are unknowingly exposed to poisonous arsenic either by drinking water and eating rice every year.
They include farmers who have to use contaminated groundwater for minor irrigation schemes.
It is estimated that for every 100 people in the Bengal delta, at least one person will be near death as a result of arsenic poisoning, while five in 100 will be experiencing other symptoms.
Affected Indian states include West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura.
Sengupta said: "This initiative will help to train more than 1,000 people over the next three years in eastern India in a novel chemical-free arsenic removal method.
"Arsenic poisoning is behind many instances of ill-health in Asia, including a number of cancer cases.
;Developing a low cost method of decontaminating groundwater that is laced with high levels of arsenic is a key challenge for sustainable agriculture in the region.
"The training programme developed by Queen's is the only method which is eco-friendly, easy to use and deliverable to the rural community user at an affordable cost," he added.
Satish Kumar, director of the India Initiative at Queen's, said: "...The best way to manage natural resources is for the local people to use their knowledge and technologies.
The issue of deeply entrenched arsenic contamination of groundwater in Kolkata and indeed in large parts of West Bengal calls for an approach where the local population are empowered to engage with this new technology."
The project is supported by the British Council under its Development Partnerships in Higher Education Programme (Delphe).
