Future perspectives and mitigation strategies towards groundwater arsenic contamination in West Bengal, India
Soumyajit Koley
Abstract
Arsenic is a toxic carcinogen mostly found in subsurface environments. It is released into groundwater mostly via natural geological and hydrological processes. Consumption of such contaminated water leads to serious health crises for mankind. Developing countries in South Asia, particularly the rural regions, have been severely affected by this environmental phenomenon. In India, government authorities have implemented several remedial measures to provide safe drinking water to the rural habitations, ranging from utilization of surface water bodies (e.g., rivers, ponds, etc.) for piped water supply schemes and establishment of groundwater treatment units. This article attempts to review the scientific literature describing the critical situation in India's fourth most populous state of West Bengal and the engineering advances made in the mitigation. The issue of safe disposal or stabilization of arsenic wastewaters generated from the treatment units is often not emphasized in policy discussions. In a concluding note, this article proposes innovations necessary for achieving effective arsenic mitigation in the region that involve both groundwater remediation and waste management in tandem for sustainability.