Chandigarh, August 4
At least two blocks in the Gurdaspur district have shown the presence of arsenic in a study being carried out by expert committee commissioned by the Chief Minister, Prakash Singh Badal, in July. The content of ‘cancer causing element’ has been found in excess to the WHO prescribed limits of 10 micrograms.

Confirming the development Sanjay Kumar, the Secretary Rural Water Supply and Sanitation, said arsenic contents had been found in the water samples of Fatehgarh Churrian and Dera Baba Nanak blocks of the district. More importantly as many as 1156 water samples out of the 3500 odd collected by teams, in different parts of the state, have reported traces of unsafe contents of Uranium. These samples show the element contents above the WHO prescribed limits of 15 micrograms

A total of 7500 water samples are expected to be screened before a final report which is expected within three months.

The expert committee has been entrusted the task of tracing problems and suggesting remedial actions with regard to “unsafe” contents in drinking water. The committee had been constituted after reports of more than 1100 tubewells, supplying water, found to contain uranium and heavy metals, in excess of the limits prescribed by the WHO.

The Central Ground Water Board, had earlier taken at least 32 subsoil water samples, mostly from the Mansa-Bathinda belt of the Malwa region in 2010. The samples of Dhaipi, Kotra Kalan, Ghari-Bhagi and Meerpur Dhani villages showed arsenic contents above the danger levels. Arsenic presence were found to be as high as 270 micrograms at Bhamme Kalan village.