Millions of drinking poisoned water in Bangladesh

dhaka - An estimated twenty million people in Bangladesh drink still water contaminated with arsenic, which occurs naturally in the soil. The problem has been known for twenty years but so far the government in Dhaka has done little. This was announced by the human rights organization Human Rights Watch on Wednesday.

Prolonged intake of arsenic can cause liver damage, kidney, lung and skin cancer. Previously, the people of Bangladesh drew drinking water from the Ganges. Nowadays the river previously contaminated too seriously. Aid agencies advised therefore tapping into underground sources as an alternative. However, these are mainly found in strata with poisonous arsenic.