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

Socio-environmental Approach to Mitigation of Arsenic Contamination Disaster on Drinking Water in Bangladesh

Maiko SAKAMOTO
Center for Northeast Asian Studies, Tohoku University, Japan,

Yosuke FUKUSHIMA
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Japan,

Yoshimi HAGIHARA
Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, Japan

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

Arsenic contamination of underground water is a serious problem in Bangladesh. Various alternative technologies were introduced to supply safe drinking water. However, the technologies were not necessarily accepted by local residents. Here, arsenic contamination of drinking water is not thought to be resolved simply by tackling improvement of arsenic removal technologies. It is important to recognize the arsenic contamination problem as a disaster which is deeply related with local social environment. Based on this point of view, mitigation planning of arsenic contamination disaster on drinking water is presented in this study. In particular as socio environmental features, the models of evaluating local peoples’ capability for getting safe water and stress of carrying water are proposed.

Keywords: Arsenic contamination, Drinking water, Capability, Environmental culture disaster

Location: Basailbogh of Patabogh Union in Srinagar Upazila

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Socio-economic and Policy

Commodity: Arsenic

Objectives:

In this study, attention was given to observe the relation between the disaster and local social environments in Bangladesh, and mitigation planning on arsenic contamination disaster was designed from socio-environmental aspects.

Methodology:

The area of model application is Basailbogh of Patabogh Union in Srinagar where is placed at 20 km west from Dhaka. The polygon is called ‘bali’ which means a kind of cluster where normally relatives gather to live, but not necessarily. In rainy season, a bali appears to be a island. Bangladesh government painted a safe well green and an arsenic contaminated well red. There are several red colored wells in each bali. Investigations were conducted in August-September and December in 2005. In August and September, the residents of balis of Bandaru/Pussin, Ripinmiyaru, Karukumiyaru, Munshi get water from red wells. While our investigation team stayed at the village, the residents of the bali of Munshi changed their behavior and got water from a green well. However, in December, they use a red well again and furthermore the residents of balis of Sheiku, Pokiru, Member house changed to use red wells.

From the questionnaire it was observed that the behavior of local people about their water resources selection is supposed to depends a lot on unconscious attitudes toward arsenic contamination and situations of their daily life. In other words, most of local people were poor so that they cannot afford to spare time and money for arsenic mitigation. Furthermore, arsenic poisoned effects takes time to appear and this may cause local people think optimistically about their arsenic situation. From these assumptions on local people’s behavior, the motivation structure for getting safe water is analyzed by covariance structure analysis with the questionnaire results of 2003. It adopt MIMIC model with 4 latent variables; ‘anxiety for arsenic’, ‘stability of life’, ‘stress of carrying water’ and ‘capability (for getting safe water)’. The concept of ‘capability’ is basically based on the definition of Sen (1992). Sen defines that capability is a feasible set of all discretionary functioning which are achieved by changing characteristic of goods and services with using person’s properties, abilities and resources. Note that functioning is welfare which a person can obtain through his/her possessions. In other words, capability is a set of functioning, which reflects a liberty for a person to achieve a valuable function. Sen uses the capability approach to analyze equity and inequity with focusing on not only welfare which is achieved in the reality but also that which is not achieved in the reality. In this study, although it was basically based on Sen’s concept of capability, it does not give the precise descriptive definition of capability. Observed variables and latent variables compose capability as a latent variable and this composition is the definition of capability. Through observations and hearings in villages, carrying water is disclosed to be a work of women. Furthermore, it is also made known that women do not like to see men and they feel a psychological burden because of being seen by men when they carry water. Then, stress of carrying water should be measured from women’s point of view and at the same time a psychological aspect has to be considered. Based on this recognition, (psychological) stress of carrying water is assumed to be modeled by weighted time of carrying water for women to go a well through crowds.

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:

The result of analysis on Basailbogh demonstrates that only 2 steps can save most of villagers from arsenic contamination disaster though there are still some who cannot be saved by step 2. However, the situation of the rest people who does not be saved by step 2 is not so effectively improved after step 2. From this consideration, it could conclude that the people who can be saved by step 2 are suffering for getting safe water because there are not green wells which they are easy to access and on the other hand the people who cannot be saved by step 2 cannot afford to get safe water because they have a lot of other issues which they are suffering for. Therefore, different considerations have to be taken for each type of people and the models and the planning process which are proposed in this study would be a help of knowing and disclosing such the problems of which socio-environment backgrounds hold causes.

Knowledge Management: Report/Proceedings