Arsenic threat in Bengal
groundwater contaminated by arsenic has been found in Rajarhat area of West Bengal during testing done by the School of Environment Studies ( ses ) of Jadavpur University, Kolkata. Out of 2,775 samples tested by ses , more than half had high levels of arsenic. Dipankar Chakroborty, director of ses , said that 41.6 per cent of the samples tested had arsenic content of more than 10 microgrammes per litre (mg/l) and 10.2 per cent had more than 50 mg/l. The World Health Organisation's permissible limit is 10 mg/l. The results, according to Chakroborty, show that arsenic contamination is spreading even in areas that were earlier thought to be safe. The area is the choice for the state's upcoming biggest township project. Rejecting the claims, Gautam Deb, the state's minister of public health engineering department, said that the residents of the new township would not be allowed to use underground water.