The scenario of water pollution in Buxar district has been explained in our previous blog. Buxar, being one of the highly arsenic affected districts in Bihar, serves as one of the crucial sites for triggering action among local communities. Thus, a campaign, with the support of Water Aid, was proposed on building awareness on water-quality issues in general and arsenic as a contaminant in particular, so as to enable communities to cope with the same.
The main objective was towards triggering behavioural changes in the community and re-defining the roles and perspectives of service delivery agents on mitigating the effects of arsenic. This was planned in two phases. The first phase intended to gain the community’s perspectives on the issue and on understanding the local context, local priorities and the institutional structure. The second phase included interactive sessions, puppet shows and systematic plans for mitigating arsenic.
The activities of the campaign were carried out in selected villages of Simri block in Buxar district, with the support of the partner organisations of the Arsenic Knowledge and Action Network, viz. Water Action, SAMTA and MCSRC. A Health Assessment Camp was organised, where patients were examined for arsenic toxicity. 75 water samples were assessed for arsenic contamination out of which 100 ppb was the maximum concentration of arsenic reported.
There were also interactions and focus group discussions over a period of 5-6 days with the communities in the villages.
Questions were largely aimed at tracing the change from historical to existing sources of water for drinking, irrigation and livestock, their nature of contamination, and the perceived effects of arsenic contamination.
There were a lot of gainful insights from the activities that were conducted. First of all, it had become evident that the community did relate their various health ailments (cancer, skin diseases etc) to the water that they consumed. They felt that the arsenic in the water also made it unusable for livestock and irrigation. Both men and women agreed that traditional wells safer sources of water due to their relatively shallow depths. But with the rise in use of tube-wells, groundwater is now available only at lower depths, which makes the water more susceptible to arsenic contamination.
Government efforts in alleviating the situation have been little. Yes, some tube-wells have been marked as ‘not fit for use’, but people end up using them for the lack of any alternative sources. There have also been no awareness disseminating measures by the government. As a coping mechanism, people have shifted to buying bottled water for consumption. However, the concern of arsenic in water used for livestock and irrigation remains the same. Traces of arsenic have been found in food and milk. Even the utensils that were used to store this water turned red when the water was left stagnant.
Through this entire exercise, what became strikingly clear is the need for solution. Telling people about arsenic poisoning is needed, but what is more important is to equip them with alternative means or mechanism through which they can counter their current situation. Awareness is an empowering tool only when accompanied by building the capacity of the community.
Comments
Post a Comment