The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh may find it difficult in the future to cope with the growing arsenic problem in its groundwater due to reluctance of the concerned parties, including the government and NGOs, experts told an international symposium here yesterday. "The concerned parties, including the government and NGOs, are reluctant about the severity of the arsenic problem in Bangladesh and it might make the matter worse in the future," said Dr Dipankar Chakraborti, Director of Research of the School of Environment Studies, Jadavpur University, India.

The symposium titled 'Arsenic Calamity of Groundwater in Bangladesh:

Contamination in Water, Soil and Plants' was organised at a city hotel as part of a research programme of a group of scientists from Japan and Bangladesh. Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Masayuki Inoue was present at the function as special guest.

The research team, led by Dr Kingshuk Roy, Associate Professor at Nihon University in Japan, has been conducting periodical field surveys on arsenic contamination in soil, water and plants in different parts of Bangladesh.

Dr Kingshuk Roy was supported by Dr Nobuyuki and Dr Sadao Nagasaka, two of his colleagues from Nihon University, and MIM Zulfiqar of Social Development Foundation in Bangladesh.

Some findings of their survey conducted on plants species in different villages of Narayanganj district showed some crops such as roots of water spinach (pui shakh) and the roots of wax gourd (Chal komra) having strong affinity to absorb arsenic from soil-water.