Kolkata: West Bengal has been identified as the most affected zone with regard to arsenic contamination of drinking water sources in the Indian sub-continent, union Water Resources Minister P R Dasmunshi said in Kolkata today (Oct 14, 2004).

Quoting a data available with him, the minister informed a National Conference on Water Quality Issues that of the 269 blocks surveyed in the State, 53 had been found to be fully critical, while another was partly so.

''Twenty two other blocks are fully semi-critical and five others partly, while the remaining 188 have been found to be safe,'' he said.

Stating that problems like arsenic and fluoride contamination cannot be tackled by a State in isolation, Dasmunshi said, '' We must add required support and concern at the national level''.

He said inland salinity has affected several States like Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, while the effect of salinity in ground water due to seawater ingress has been posing problems in coastal reaches of Sourashtra and Kutch as also some areas in the east coast.

High level of flouride in ground water has been the bane in large areas of Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, while other than West Bengal, the problem of high concentration of arsenic has struck parts of Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Chandigarh.

''Moreover, high iron concentration in ground water is common in parts of eastern and northeastern States. Instances of ground water pollution with toxic chemicals like chromium, copper and nickel in the vicinity of industrial areas and urban settlements have also been reported in many parts of the country,'' he added.