It is a great pity that when millions are suffering and facing death, we are engaged in research, policy making and suggestion providing only. More pathetic, it is we who told them to leave the age old sustainable water use methods to new technology exposing them to tghis deadly risk.

Another aspect of our ignorance is that we only think of self-interest even in arsenic mitigation. There is not a single solution here; ground water is just one.Yes, you may have a safe water layer in certain area, but it may get contaminated gradually aftera few years’ use ! Rainwater is one major safe source; surface water, filtered water etc are to be combined for a sustainable and continuous supply of safe water.
This should be done, this muxt be done with top priority ! And for every poor of the affected areas!! We don’t need seminars, conferences, data bases and research projects now, till the mitigation is complete. It should be action and action for safe water !!

Regards

M.I.Zuberi

We have a small project and when in a village we discovered arsenic free water at certain depositional sequence, hundreds of tube-wells are dug by the villagers. As my father used say that when nobody comes, do it alone.

It may be mentioned that this artcle was not published by the Daily Star.

Dr. Jamal Anwar

I read your e-mail of 11 October 2008 titled “Arsenic poisoning: We are Losing Ground”. It is not that we are losing ground but the ground has been looted by the consultants and so-called experts in collaboration with local bureaucrats and technocrats working with the agencies like UNICE, UNDP, BRAC, ICDDRB and World Bank etc. The Arsenic booty was more than 40 millions US Dollars, some says 1000 million or more.

Over the past 12-14 years we from DCH staged 6 international conferences and produced pro-people national agendas for arsenic mitigation, research and sustainable safe water policy. All these were done objectively and also keeping in mind our available water resources and our age old practices. It is also on record that DCH pioneered arsenic mitigation and safe water programme and patient management protocol which was ultimately accepted with further modification by the government with the participation of other Bangladeshi experts. The patient management protocol was authenticated by WHO regional center at Delhi. But unfortunately nothing substantial happen to help the suffering millions according to the accepted and approved mitigation policy and action plan.

So dear Dr. Jamal Anowar it is not a matter of losing ground but unfortunately it is a matter of appropriate and poor and weak administrative management compounded by over wheeling influence of self motivated agendas that have totally eclipsed the ground you are talking about. So if you really want to recover the ground come back join us and participate in national reform programmes. We in Bangladesh still has got lots to offer to its people, we only need to re-organise ourselves and make our priorities right and stand firm with our programme.
Regards

Prof. Mahmuder Rahman
DCH