Arsenic found in tubewell near Mamata's house

KOLKATA: A tubewell supplying water to chief minister Mamata Banerjee's house in Kalighat has been detected to have a high level of arsenic contamination.
The test report rattled the civic authorities and they decided to seal the deep tube-well. This shouldn't have taken long since it involved the chief minister's house - apart from the thousands who visit Kalighat temple - but bickering by two civic departments stalled the move until mayor Sovan Chatterjee cracked the whip.
The deep tube-well was sealed last Sunday, four days after the contamination was detected.
Another tubewell next to the sealed one is still operational. The KMC water supply department has also sealed two hand pumps in the vicinity, say sources.
As if the link to the chief minister's house wasn't enough, the contaminated tubewells were used by thousands of devotees who visit Kalighat temple every day. Devotees drink water from this tubewell because the supply from the Kalighat water booster pumping station is far from sufficient.
Samples were collected from Kalighat Road on August 14 as part of the general survey by KMC after arsenic was found on Prince Anwar Shah and in Jadavpur. It was carried out secretly, without the CM's knowledge, a corporation official conceded.
"The sample was tested on August 15 and tested positive for arsenic content well beyond the permissible limits," said a KMC official. Though the civic authorities decided to seal the tube-well immediately, it could not be done immediately due to a tussle between two departments, say sources.
Alarmed by this, MMiC in charge of groundwater, Tarak Singh rushed to mayor Sovan Chatterjee. After a series of meetings with Singh and KMC water supply department officials, mayor ordered sealing one of the two deep tubewells and the two hand pumps. The KMC decided to use the other deep tubewell in two shifts to keep the supply normal to the CM's house and the area.
However, local Trinamool Congress councillor Ratan Malakar said he has no clue to the findings.
The mayor later said that the KMC's move won't affect water supply to the CM's residence. "We supply filtered water to the CM's house that has nothing to do with water lifted by the deep tubewells," Chatterjee said.
A member of the Kalighat Temple committee said that KMC had not yet informed them about the arsenic contamination.
The Arsenic Task Force held a meeting at the civic headquarters on Thursday and decided that a task force will collect groundwater samples from across the city. "These samples will be tested in eight laboratories every week. We will take action on the findings," a KMC official said. The team will have senior officials of the KMC, state and central agencies.
KMC had refused to acknowledge the arsenic threat in the city for decades and even dismissed years of research by experts. Finally, this year, it acknowledged the risk and decided to tests groundwater in vast areas of the city after many parts of south Kolkata showed alarmingly high levels of contamination.
Traces of arsenic found beyond permissible limit from a deep tube well on Kalighat Road that caters to Mamata Banerjee's residence at 30/B Harish Chatterjee Street, has sent the civic bosses into a tizzy.