From Our Correspondent
Guwahati: A large number of villagers who have been crippled due to consumption of ground water contaminated with arsenic and fluoride today staged a demonstration near the State’s capital complex and submitted a memorandum to the chief minister Tarun Gogoi demanding immediate measures to address their plight.
Staging dharna under the banner of Akashi Ganga Multipurpose Social Welfare Society from Nagaon district people who have suffered physical deformity and other chronic diseases because of consumption of ground water that has excess quantity of arsenic and fluoride, demanded that the government must take urgent step to provide them with safe drinking water besides facilitating free medical treatment for them.
The some of the affected villages included Niz Garkhowa, Urddhagaon, Tapatjuri, Dikharumukh, Karamgaon, Lalmati etc. under Akashi Ganga Gaon , Panchayat under Jamunamukh legislative assembly constituency in Assam.
About 2000 people including children from this area have been affected by the phenomenon.
In a memorandum submitted to the chief minister Tarun Gogoi today the affected people demanded Rs 10 lakh as ex-gratia compensation per person whose life has been crippled because of consumption of contaminated ground water in the area.
They demand that Public Health Department should distribute safe drinking water in those villages carrying it from places where water does not have excess of arsenic and fluoride.
The CM has been asked to provide jobs to those unemployed youth who have suffered physical deformity due to consumption of arsenic contaminated water.
They also demand removal all the tube wells from the area as those produce only highly contaminated water. Nineteen of the state’s 27 districts have reported arsenic contamination of groundwater, according to State Public Health Engineering Department minister Gautom Roy.
He said that a number of government water supply schemes had to be abandoned in view of the arsenic contamination.