DHAKA: Local government, rural development and cooperatives minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain on Saturday (June 25) said around 12 percent of country’s population are living under the threat of arsenic poisoning from groundwater.

The minister made the disclosure while responding to a question of Chittagong-4 constituency lawmaker Didarul Alam at Jatiya Sangsad.

Earlier, day’s proceedings began with Speaker Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury in the chair at 10:50am.

The minister informed the House that the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) examined over 50 lakhs tube wells in 271 upazilas of the country in 2003.

Of those, around 14.5 lakhs (over 29 percent) tube wells contained over 50 ppb (parts per billion) of arsenic, which is more than the standard.

Later, government took preventive steps that helped decrease the number of threatened people down to 12 percent, he added.

BDST: 1240 HRS, JUN 25, 2016
SR/RR/SMS