A multi-parametric spatial modeling of vulnerability due to arsenic pollution in Murshidabad district of West Bengal, In
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ORIGINAL PAPER
A multi-parametric spatial modeling of vulnerability due to arsenic pollution in Murshidabad district of West Bengal, India Debabrata Mondal & Swades Pal
Received: 1 September 2014 / Accepted: 20 January 2015 # Saudi Society for Geosciences 2015
Abstract Arsenic pollution in groundwater is the most serious geo-environmental problem posing a threat to the health of millions of people in the densely populated area of interfluvial region of Bhagirathi-Hugli and the Jalangi-Ichamati Rivers. The present paper focuses on arsenic vulnerability assessment at the mouza level (smallest revenue unit) in Beldanga II block of Murshidabad district of West Bengal in India. A number of indicators (e.g., arsenic concentration in groundwater, population density, well depth, and seasonal fluctuation of water level) have been incorporated, and weighted linear combination method was adopted into this model to develop a composite vulnerability index. The results reveal that about 15 and 10 % of the total mouzas are respectively high and extreme vulnerable, found in the eastern part of block, where 34 % people are potentially vulnerable due to arsenic pollution. This study reveals a multi-parametric spatial model for micro level arsenic vulnerability assessment, may be further improved if more relevant parameters are incorporated into this model, and it can facilitate as a basis for directing policy interventions. Keywords Arsenic pollution . Linear combination . Spatial analyst . Interpolation . Vulnerability mapping . Inverse distance weighting
Introduction Arsenic contamination in groundwater is a common phenomenon in the vast areas of the interfluvial regions of BhagirathiHugli and the Jalangi-Ichamati Rivers lying mostly in the D. Mondal (*) : S. Pal Department of Geography, University of Gour Banga, Malda 732103, West Bengal, India e-mail: [email protected]
eastern part of the Bhagirathi River in West Bengal where groundwater is the only available water resource for drinking, domestic, and irrigational purposes. In 1983, the first groundwater quality survey of tube wells in West Bengal identified 33 villages in four blocks where arsenic was found to be above the permissible limit and Murshidabad was recognized as a highly arsenic contaminated (Ahuja 2009). Since that time, many studies have been conducted to measure the existence of arsenic in drinking water. Out of 26 blocks in Murshidabad, 19 blocks have been identified as arsenic affected and about 4, 008,480 people are dwelling in the risk zone where arsenic concentration in ground water varies from 0.001 to 1.85 mg/L (Ghosh 2007). Chakraborti et al. (2009) have analyzed 1037 water samples of Beldanga II block in Murshidabad, and it has been observed that about 36.5 and 12.5 % of total samples experienced an arsenic concentration of >0.01 and >0.05 mg/ L, respectively. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the guideline values of arsenic in drinking water are 0.01 and 0.05 mg/L, respectively. High exposure
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