Arsenic contamination, which can cause poisoning in humans, has been reportedly found in an alarming 30 districts of Uttar Pradesh.
According to a technical report, 'arsenic toxicity in ground water of Uttar Pradesh', harmful concentration of arsenic in ground water, exceeding the Bureau of Indian Standards permissible limit of 0.01 mg/litre, is spread across 31 districts of the state, says a report in Times of India.
The water samples from across the UP were tested at the Indian Institute of Toxicology Research.
The tests discovered that 20 districts which figure in the severely toxic zones where the concentration of arsenic is above 0.05mg/litre, which is more than five times of allowed limit. These are Ballia, Lakhimpur-Kheri, Bahraich, Ghazipur, Gorakhpur, Bareilly, Siddharthanagar, Basti, Chandauli, Unnao, Moradabad, Sant Kabir Nagar, Sant Ravidas Nagar, Gonda, Bijnor, Mirzapur, Shahjahanpur, Balrampur, Meerut, and Rae Bareli.
Three districts fall in highly toxic category, where arsenic presence is from 0.04mg/litre to 0.05mg/litre, are Faizabad, Kanpur Nagar and Sitapur.
Five districts have been listed as dangerously toxic, with arsenic presence of 0.01mg/litre to 0.04mg/litre. These districts are Ambedkarnagar, Baghpat, Budaun, Lucknow and Pilibhit.
Three districts where arsenic level was detected around 0.01mg/litre are Kaushambi, Saharanpur and Sultanpur.
According to the report, Ballia and Lakhimpur-Kheri are the worst affected districts. Reoti, Belhari ~~amp;amp; Dubhand blocks in Ballia district and Nighasan, Isanagar, Palia ~~amp;amp; Ramia Behar blocks in Lakhimpur have been said to be the 'most critically contaminated areas' and among the river basins, the Ghaghra basin is most severely arsenic affected region of the state.
The occurrence of arsenic contamination reportedly comes from rocks with arsenic eroded from the Himalayas which got deposited as sediments in the alluvial deposits of the Gangetic plain over thousands of years.
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