The subterranean chemistry that explains India’s groundwater contamination
Complex interplay of factors has led to elevated levels of arsenic, uranium and fluoride in drinking water, making the country’s poorest citizens sick
As Vajinder Kumar saw more and more cases of cancer in young and old as he travelled through village after village in the Malwa region in the state of Punjab in north India he became increasingly concerned. ‘In one village I saw 30 cases of cancer, in another 25, and many people living with brain and nerve disorders,’ says Kumar, a chemist at Akal University, who has visited more than 100 villages over the past six years, mainly in south-west Malwa. ‘In one centre for children, I saw 500 cases of children severely affected with developmental problems.’ The grandparents and parents of the affected children say there is no family history of such developmental disorders.
A study by a team of scientists from universities in Punjab, Sikkim and West Bengal, including Kumar, describes how uranium, arsenic and other toxic elements are mobilised in aquifers and surface waters, contaminating drinking water and irrigation in Punjab. It is but the latest in a series of reports on uranium and arsenic contamination of groundwater in different regions in the country.
The latest exhaustive review of over 200 reports and analysis of the physical and chemical parameters of the entire Malwa region shows that its groundwater is unfit to drink. Uranium and arsenic in groundwater pose a significant threat to human health, leading to a high prevalence of cancer. Malwa has a relatively high cancer incidence compared with, for example, Aurangabad district in Maharashtra state in central India has which has low uranium levels and a relatively low cancer incidence.