This story is from May 11, 2015

Arsenic found in tubewell water

The onset of summer has led to depletion of ground water. However, the district administration is yet to devise a plan to keep a tab on tubewell borings in areas where it is banned.
Arsenic found in tubewell water
ALLAHABAD: The onset of summer has led to depletion of ground water. However, the district administration is yet to devise a plan to keep a tab on tubewell borings in areas where it is banned.
A recent lab report of the quality of tubewell water in city limits reveals that the quality of water obtained in Alopibagh, Daraganj and GTB Nagar contained harmful contents, including arsenic.

National Ganga River Basic Authority (NGRBA) member Kamlesh Singh said, “The situation is worse as water obtained from unauthorised boring is leading to several diseases. The lab report of three city areas is a warning signal for the district administration.”
Commenting on the issue district magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma said, “I have convened a meeting of the department concerned to look into all aspects of decreasing level of ground water after which appropriate action will be taken. It will be ensured that no new boring takes place in the areas where it is banned.”
Last year, the state ground water department had surveyed 820 development blocks in 75 districts of the state. During the survey, seven out of 20 development blocks of Allahabad were placed in the ‘critical’ category. In view of low ground water level, the state government had banned boring in these areas in 2014.
The survey placed Bahadurpur, Chaka, Dhanupur, Holagarh and Mauaima blocks of Allahabad district under over-exploited category. Baharia and Pratappur blocks were placed under critical category and Urua in semi-critical area.
Apart from it, 111 blocks across the state were found to be over-exploited, 68 critical and 82 semi-critical. Only 558 were found safe.
As per data, in 2001, the district had around 28,517 handpumps which went up to 2.23 lakh in 2011.
In this context, chief secretary Alok Ranjan had in a letter dated October 13, 2014 instructed administrative officials of respective regions to stop boring by government, community and private agencies. Sources revealed that administration failed to check boring in city limits.
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