Arsenic: Water purifiers supplied by NGO in Gopalganj

Gopalganj UNO Md Giasuddin Moghol handing over a water filter to a woman from arsenic affected Durgapur union in Gopalganj Sadar upazila recently.. Local NGO Agape Service Foundation organised the distribution programme. PHOTO: STAR

Arsenic has been detected in water of 13,465 out of 15,207 tube-wells in Muksudpur, Kasiani and Gopalganj Sadar upazilas,

In Sadar upazila, 311 arsenic affected patients have been detected and at Chandradighalia village of Paikkandi union parishad (UP), 91 patients have been detected.

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As many as 3,38,990 members of 47,934 families in 211 villages were examined.

Most of the tube-wells in the affected areas have been sealed off by marking red and with a warning signboard by the Department of Public Health Engineering Department (DPHE), Gopalganj.

A survey was also conducted by an NGO, Gano Unnaya Prochesta (GUP) in 22 unions of Sadar upazila from April 1 to June 30.

Meanwhile, a voluntary organisation, Agape Service Foundation (ASF) has come forward to mitigate the sufferings of the people in the district.

ASF on Saturday distributed 30 water filters among 30 families of Durgapur union in Gopalganj Sadar upazila. Gopalganj upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) Md Giasudin Moghol distributed the filters at the ASF office at Kuadanga in Sadar upazila. ASF president Richard Shudip Arindha presided over the function.

According to DPHE experts, surface water, rain water and water of rivers and ponds are free from arsenic. Water of 1,000 feet deep tube-wells are also arsenic-free.