Guwahati: A recent research has brought to the fore that arsenic contamination in groundwater has led to gallbladder cancer in different districts of Assam. Assistant Medical Supervisor of Dr.B Barooah Cancer Institute Dr. Manigreeva Krishnatreya revealed this in an exclusive interview with the ETV Bharat.
He said that a research jointly carried out by the premier cancer research institution in collaboration with the Public Health Engineering (PHE) department of the Assam government led to the shocking revelation that arsenic contamination in ground waters is a major factor for gallbladder cancer in Assam.
"We decided to carry out the research in collaboration with the PHE department of the government of Assam considering the fact that the cases of gallbladder cancer have been on the rise at an alarming rate and that several districts of Assam have arsenic contamination. We have found that arsenic contamination beyond the permissible limit in drinking water leads to gallbladder cancer," he said, adding that the chances of gallbladder cancer become double if there is arsenic contamination in drinking water.
He said that most of the gallbladder cancer patients in the Dr. B Barooah Cancer Institute are from the 19 districts where there is arsenic contamination in ground waters. "It is already an established fact that drinking arsenic-contaminated waters leads to gallbladder cancer cases," he said, adding that at least 9 per cent of the total cancer patients in Assam are suffering from gallbladder cancer.
The research by the Cancer Institute and PHE came at a time when Assam health minister Ashok Singhal has recently expressed concern over the arsenic and fluoride contamination in ground-water of Assam. Singhal, while expressing concern over arsenic and fluoride contamination in multiple districts of Assam, emphasised the need for a multi-sectoral approach to address this serious public health issue. He urged the Health and Family Welfare Department to collaborate with departments like Public Health Engineering (PHE) and Jal Jeevan Mission to formulate a comprehensive mitigation strategy.
Earlier, the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) of the Government of India while following direction by the National Green Tribunal collected 21 samples from different districts of Assam where arsenic contamination was found beyond permissible limits. During the CGWB study, a total of 440 samples of groundwater source were collected from 254 blocks in different districts of Assam out of which 21 samples collected from 14 blocks were found to have arsenic contamination beyond permissible limits (beyond 0.01 milligram in per litre of water).
"This is serious and we must make the drinking water free of arsenic contamination," Dr. Krishnatreya said while adding that people also need to change their food habits to keep away from gallbladder cancer.
