JAYANTA BASUCalcutta: Several areas of the city and its outskirts are vulnerable to arsenic poisoning and little has been done to address the issue, health experts said at a meeting of the Institute of Public Health Engineers (IPHE), in collaboration with Lehigh University, US, and the state arsenic task force, on Wednesday. The number of people exposed to the risk of arsenic poisoning has increased with the permissible limit of arsenic in drinking water being made five times more stringent - 0.01 milligrams per litre instead of 0.05 milligrams per litre - in the country. The shadow of arsenic poisoning hangs over 34 lakh people living in 104 arsenic-affected blocks across 11 districts in Bengal, where the problem is yet to be addressed. Nath, the chairman of the state arsenic task force. "Adi Ganga needs to be insulated from dumping of various garbage, particularly faecal matter, as they may release arsenic into the water," he said.

Source: The Telegraph January 03, 2018 23:06 UTC