Arsenic content in water

Scientific research has established that 40% of all deaths in Pakistan are caused by the consumption of contaminated water. Now a report by the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources reveals that 62% of underground water in the Bahawalpur region is unfit for human consumption as it contains arsenic beyond the prescribed limit. The WHO has listed arsenic among the 10 chemicals that pose serious risk to human health. Arsenic causes various types of cancer, kidney failure, lung and heart diseases. It is linked to pregnancy complications and infant mortality, and also arrests mental development.

Now in Bahawalpur, the number of kidney patients has soared to 130,000 per annum and those of hepatitis-C and B have gone up to 60,000. The growing arsenic content in water is mainly due to the falling water table. Experts attribute the increasing contamination of underground water in the region to transfer of the Sutlej River to a neighbouring country under the Indus Waters Treaty. The flow of the river acted as a natural purifier of water and also helped keep the level of underground water from going down. The government has installed 32 water filtration plants in Bahawalpur city but most of them are either dysfunctional or poorly maintained. Area residents claim that people’s representatives elected to legislatures are lukewarm to addressing the significant issue of water contamination.

A former government had promised to construct a Sutlej lake in order to reverse the trend of falling water table so as to make the required amount of water available in the region. But it has remained an empty promise like most promises made by politicians and political parties. Surprisingly, this is in spite of the much-trumpeted project of ‘Saaf Pani’ programme under which people were to be provided with uncontaminated water. Obviously, a lethal combination of corruption, complacency and negligence has produced the present sorry state of affairs. The message is clear: drink costly beverages and protect your health.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2021.

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