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Groundwater information booklet of arsenic affected Murshidabad district of West Bengal

This information booklet from the Central Ground Water Board (Eastern Region) deals with groundwater related information for the arsenic infested district of Murshidabad in West Bengal

Author : Central Ground Water Board (Eastern Region)

The groundwater related issues and problems the distrcit include:

  • Groundwater quality: The problem of arsenic in the district is geogenic in origin. Arsenic in groundwater in sporadic manner has been identified in 19 blocks. A total population of 40,08,480 are residing in the risk zone. Arsenic concentration in groundwater varies from 0.001-1.85 mg/l.
  • So far CGWB has constructed 24 deep tubewells in 7 blocks which have been handed over to state agencies to supply water. Apart from this the state government as well as other organisations/agencies has installed arsenic removal plants and domestic filters which are producing arsenic free water.
  • In some part of the district surface water is being provided by the state government to the arsenic affected people.
  • Water logging problems have been observed in parts of Farakka, Suti and Raghunathganj blocks.
  • From the long term monitoring of water level, declining trend has been observed in some parts of district specially in Bharatpur II block.
  • In some areas, it is observed that deep aquifers are not found within 350 m bgl particularly in the southern part of the district where high capacity of drilling rig is required to explore beyond 350 mbgl.
  • Natural erosion along the banks of Ganga river causing huge loss of agricultural and residential land specially in rainy season is a serious problem in the blocks along the river bank.
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