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Is groundwater arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh a natural or a man made disaster?

Dear Drs. Hussam and Munir



The groundwater arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh is a geological problem. In order to understand the source and cause of poisoning, and the permanent solution to the problem, the problem must be addressed based on geological, hydrological, hydro geological, geochemical, arsenic toxicity data, historical groundwater used data from dugwells and tube wells and historical medical data. The data must be collected and interpreted by well trained professionals who have had both institutional training and working experience in dealing with soil and groundwater contamination projects.

We would like to inform you that you have been presenting incorrect data to the people of Bangladesh and scientific community around the world regarding the source and cause of groundwater arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh. On the other hand none of you are qualified professionals to justify the validity of the source and cause of groundwater arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh, because groundwater arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh is a geological problem and none of you have any geological background and working experience under the supervision of a geologist.

On June 21, 2007 in yours article entitled "Arsenic Free Clean Water and Sustainable Local Technology" a paper for Asiatic society you strongly stated that "Arsenic poisoning in drinking water is now identified as one of the worst natural disasters on the earth. It is estimated that of the 140 million people of Bangladesh, between 77-95 million are drinking groundwater containing more than 50 ug/L (or0.05 mg/L) maximum contamination level (MCL) from 10 millions tube wells."

We strongly disagree with your natural disaster theory and we have sound scientific data and evidences that support that the groundwater arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh is a recent man-made disaster which began after 1975. The harvesting of river water in the upstream territory of India from the Ganges, Teesta and 28 other common rivers of Bangladesh and India, and over pumping of groundwater are the root cause of groundwater arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh. In dry season, the over pumping of groundwater in Bangladesh was required due to the lack of recharge water from the above mentioned rivers. The over pumping of groundwater and harvesting of river water for the last three decades are directly related to the recent oxidation mechanism for releasing arsenic into groundwater. We are ready to share with you our data and evidences at any time that support our theory that "The groundwater arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh is a recent man-made disaster which began after 1975 and that the recent oxidation is the principal cause for the mobilization of arsenic into groundwater."

Since you have been strongly promoting the "natural disaster theory", we want to know from you what geological, hydrological, hydro geological and geochemical data do have that support that the groundwater arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh is a natural disaster? If you do not have any data in support your "natural disaster theory" then why you are making such a false statement? We challenge you to present sound scientific data and evidences immediately that support your "Natural disaster theory." If you are not able to present sound scientific data and evidences in support of your natural disaster theory, then we would assume that you are intentionally misleading the people of Bangladesh and the scientific community around the world regarding the source and cause of poisoning and the permanent solution to the problem. Respectfully,
Meer Husain, P.G, Cowley College, Wichita, Kansas USA
COWLEY COLLEGE INTERNATIONAL ARSENIC,WATER, ECOSYSTEM AND ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH CENTER Wichita, Kansas, USA (September 4, 2007).

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