Agricultural Research Management Information System

Home
Research Summary
Search
About Us
- ARMIS
- Brochure
Contact Us
Report
User Request
Data Input
Help
- Operation Manual
  - PDF
  - Video
- Program Area & Commodity
We have reached 37600 number of research entries at this moment.

- Logout

Research Detail

Home
Research
Detail

Computation of Arsenic Vulnerability in Bhanga Upazila Under Faridpur District of Bangladesh Through GIS Based Multi Criteria Analysis

Motaleb Hossain SARKER
GIS Specialist,
Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services, Dhaka- 1212, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

At present, arsenic contamination is considered to be a dangerous environmental threat and a serious health risk. Arsenic contamination of drinking water is a significant healthy problem in rural areas of Bangladesh. In Bangladesh more than 90% of rural households depend on water supply from the groundwater source for drinking and other domestic usage (BGS, 2001). Due to arsenic contamination in groundwater and the extent and severity of this problem has placed a large part of the country in a most vulnerable situation. screening of 4.7 million tube - wells in arsenic affected upazilas showed that 29% of these have arsenic in excess of the Bangladesh standard (WHO, 1996). It is estimated that 20-25 million peoples are at risk from arsenic in these upazilas. More than 10 thousand patients, suffering from chronic arsenic poisoning, so far had been identified. In the above context, a pilot initiative were taken to identify the vulnerable community in highly arsenic affected areas and to assist in optimize planning activities of DPHE/UNICEF for deployment of alternate safe water options to ensure the arsenic free drinking water. The study focuses the computation of community arsenic vulnerability index at different administrative (Upazila, union and mouza) level through multi-criteria analysis using different indicators and indicator parameters. The indicators used for this study are (i) arsenic hazard, (ii) resources, (iii) coping capacity and (iv) health condition. The score values of different indicators were calculated in two ways: using formula and using look up tables. A DELPHI process was conducted involving various stake holders to determine weights for different indicators. These weights was used to prepare vulnerability maps. The major activities of the study were (i) data collection, processing and database preparation, (ii) data analysis, (iii) vulnerability computation and mapping arsenic vulnerability and (iv) development arsenic decision support system (ADSS to raise awareness among the affected community and capacity building of DPHE field level officials for efficient arsenic mitigation planning for the benefit of rural people of Bangladesh.

Keywords: Arsenic hazard, Community, Vulnerability, Multi-criteria analysis.

Location: Bhanga Upazila Under Faridpur District of Bangladesh

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Risk Management in Agriculture

Commodity: Arsenic

Objectives:

The main objective of the project is to assist UNICEF and DPHE for the identification of the most vulnerable communities and prioritizing the planning and budgeting for ongoing arsenic mitigation work. The overall objective of the project is to develop an extended database and a prototype DSS to help users retrieve and analyze arsenic related information, identify vulnerable communities, plan mitigation and monitor the impact of the arsenic mitigation work. The specific objectives are as follows:

Identification of most vulnerable communities
Development of arsenic database
Analysis of vulnerability profile of communities
Development of vulnerability maps.

Methodology:

Study Area: The study area comprises the Bhanaga upazila under Faridpur district of Bangladesh. The total population in the study area is about 230300 with the population density of 1073 person/square km (BBS, 2001). More than 80% of tube wells have arsenic concentration of greater than 50 pbb which is unsafe. The population density in the study area has the incremental trend which indicates the more peoples are exposed to the arsenic hazard with time. Methodology: The study was carried out following the systematic approaches are: (i) conceptualization of arsenic vulnerability, (ii) framework design for multi-criteria analysis, (iii) collection and processing of data, (iv) computation of arsenic vulnerability index and (v) preparation of arsenic vulnerability maps. The brief description of different steps of the methodology are given below. Conceptualization of arsenic vulnerability: Vulnerability can be defined as a function of exposure to a hazard and the capacity to cope with the hazard. In this context, there can be a number of factors, which influence the vulnerability of people to arsenic contamination. Vulnerability is a twofold concept, which entails the livelihood of events that may result in a series of negative livelihood outcomes, as well as the coping mechanisms that people employ to face such risk events. The vulnerability due to arsenic contamination in drinking water impacting water security is defined in terms of its domestic use- access at all times to sufficient safe water to meet all personal needs for an active and healthy life. Vulnerability also varies with the type of community, such as, if a tube-well located at a school or near a health center is affected by arsenic, the scope of vulnerability will be more than if a tube-well is used by a household even though the contamination level is the same. The arsenic vulnerability analysis can be done through developing model or multi-criteria analysis. The arsenic vulnerability is guided by several determinants or indicators such as, arsenic hazard, coping capacity, socio-economic status, resources available and other health related parameters, etc. These indicators are governed by different parameters. Vulnerability to arsenic is calculated considering different indicators and their parameter values. For arsenic mitigation purposes arsenic vulnerability mapping is very useful for identifying highly vulnerable communities. Framework design for multi-criteria analysis: Using the expert knowledge and consultation process the basic requirements for the initial framework of the multi-criteria analysis were identified as (i) administrative unit of vulnerability calculation, (ii) determinants/indicators of the arsenic vulnerability, (iii) listed criteria for each indicator, and (iv) weight of the determinants etc. The Delphi process was studied to get the weight of the different indicators including the computation indicators. In the Delphi process, the users select the weight of the indicators, which they can change as per the objective or rationale of the DSS. The union-wise vulnerability was calculated considering the mauza, i.e., the lowest administrative unit. Upazila-wise vulnerability was also calculated based on the lowest administrative unit (mauza). The different types of determinants were identified for the study are (i) Hazards, (ii) Resource, (iii) Coping capacity and (iv) Health. Further, The criteria and indicators for each determinant were also defined through studying and brainstorming. Based on the criteria and indicators need of the data were also assessed.

Source of Information: International Conference on Water & Flood Management (ICWFM-2007), 12 - 14 March 2007, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

From the result, it is observed that that Manikdaha union is highly and Chandra union is less vulnerable in compare to other unions. One of the important analyses done for the study area is that substantial amount of safe (green arsenic concentration < 50 pbb) tube well became unsafe (red - arsenic concentration > 50 pbb). The result, it has been observed that Nurullaganj union has the highest percentage (26%) of tube well became red and Hamirdi union has the lowest percentage (6%) of tube well became red. Comparing the vulnerability maps and data analysis, it is found that there is no correlation between % of tube well became red because vulnerability has been calculated through multi-criteria analysis using different indicators and indicator parameters. Further weight of different indicators is another important factors which also influence the vulnerability result. However, this type analysis could be very helpful for the planners and decision makers in cost optimized planning and implementation of arsenic mitigation activities for safe of rural poor people of Bangladesh.

Knowledge Management: Report/Proceedings