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This article provides updated status of the arsenic affected rural habitations in India, summarizes the policy initiatives of the Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation (Government of India), reviews the technologies for arsenic treatment and analyses the progress made by states in tackling arsenic problems in rural habitations. It also provides a list of constraints based on experiences and recommends suggested measures to tackle arsenic problems in an holistic manner. It is expected that the paper would be useful for policy formulators in states, non-government organizations, researchers of academic and scientific institutions and programme managers working in the area of arsenic mitigation in drinking water, especially in developing countries, as it provides better insights compared to other available information in India on mitigating arsenic problems in drinking water in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The state of Punjab comprising 1.5% area of the country has been contributing 40-50% rice and 60-65% wheat to the central pool since last three decades. During last 35 years The area under foodgrains has increased from 39,200 sqkmha to 63,400 sqkm and the production of rice and wheat has increased from 0.18 to 0.32 kg/m² and 0.22 to 0.43 kg/m² respectively. This change in cropping pattern has increased irrigation water requirement tremendously and the irrigated area has increased from 71 to 95% in the state. Also the number of tube wells has increased from 0.192 to 1.165 million in the last 35 years. The excessive indiscriminate exploitation of ground water has created a declining water table situation in the state. The problem is most critical in central Punjab. The average rate of decline over the last few years has been 55cm per year. The worst affected districts are Moga, Sangrur, Nawanshahar, Ludhiana and Jalandhar. This has resulted in extra power consumption, affects the socio-economic conditions of the small farmers, destroy the ecological balance and adversely affect the sustainable agricultural production and economy of the state. Therefore, in this paper attempt has been made to analyse the problem of declining water table, possible factors responsible for this and suggest suitable strategies for arresting declining water table for sustainable agriculture in Punjab. The strategies include shift of cropping pattern, delay in paddy transplantation, precision irrigation and rainwater harvesting for artificial groundwater recharge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arsenic in groundwater is a huge problem in numerous regions of the world. Many people are exposed to high arsenic concentrations and consequently risk getting ill or even die as a result of arsenic poisoning. There are several efficient technologies for the removal of arsenic but often these methods have disadvantages, e.g. high costs for installation and/or operation, the need for chemicals or the production of arsenic contaminated filter sludge. These disadvantages can make the application difficult, especially in poor regions. Under suitable ancillary conditions the subterranean (in-situ) treatment, which is often used for iron and manganese removal from groundwater, can also be applied for the removal of arsenic and can be a cost-effective treatment technology. A field trial was carried out with a low-cost in-situ treatment plant in West Bengal/India which is described in this paper, in order to investigate whether this treatment technology is also applicable under the boundary conditions there. As for the in-situ treatment technology besides oxygen no additives are required and no arsenic contaminated filter sludge is produced this technology could be a suitable method for arsenic removal especially in poor regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]