Imphal, March 24: Following confirmation by the Central Pollution Board about the high rate of arsenic content in the water sources of Kakching Block areas, a team of scientist from the All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health will be arriving in the first week of April to investigate the matter.

Speaking to The Sangai Express, an official of the State Public Health Engineering Dept informed that a team of scientist led by Prof Mazumdar will visit Kakching area and conduct test on the water samples available there besides finding out the reason for the high rate of arsenic content in the water sources of Kakching area.

Apart from testing the water samples, the scientists will also be providing training to the officials of the State Public Health Department in detecting arsenic in water sources.

Informing that the State PHED had never conducted any test to find out arsenic contents in water sources while setting up tube wells in Kakching area, the officials said that such test was always avoided as the PHED officials had never thought in their wildest dreams that arsenic contents or other heavy metals would be present in the underground water sources of Kakching area.

Despite possessing a Central Water Testing Laboratory, the Dept does not have facilities or equipments for detecting harzadous metals, said the official adding that the State Govt has already approached the Central Govt for procuring an Atomic Absorption Spectrometre for detecting arsenic and other harzadous metals in the water sources of the State.

Meanwhile, PHED officials who had taken water samples from the Kakching Block area for conducting test at the Jorhat based Niriwalam Lab has returned to Imphal without conducting the test as the water samples were taken in an improper manner violating the necessary procedures.

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