LONDON: British scientists claim to have found a solution to the world's worst case of poisoning through exposure to arsenic in rice and water in eastern India.

According to an estimate over 70 million people in Eastern India and Bangladesh experience involuntary arsenic exposure from consuming water and rice.

This includes farmers who have to use contaminated groundwater from minor irrigation schemes. It is estimated that for every random sample of 100 people in the Bengal Delta, at least one person will be near death as a result of arsenic poisoning, while five in 100 will be experiencing other symptoms.

Now scientists at the Queens University Belfast have created a new low-cost technology to provide arsenic-free water to millions of people in South Asia who are exposed to high levels of poison in groundwater.

Leading an international team, Queen's researchers have also developed a trial plant in Kasimpore, near Kolkata, which offers chemical-free groundwater treatment technology to rural communities for all their drinking and farming needs.

The technology is based on recharging a part of the groundwater, after aeration, into a subterranean aquifer (permeable rock) able to hold water. Increased levels of oxygen in the groundwater slow down the arsenic release from the soil.

Arsenic poisoning is behind many instances of ill-health in Southern Asia, including a rising number of cancer cases. Developing a low cost method of decontaminating ground water that is laced with high levels of arsenic is a key challenge for sustainable agriculture there," said Bhaskar Sen Gupta, scientist at the university and coordinator of the project.

Terming the solution as viable for the region, he said "This project developed by Queens is the only method which is eco-friendly, easy to use and deliverable to the rural community user at an affordable cost."

The project is part of the EU-funded Asia Pro Eco Programme which is dedicated to the improvement of environmental performance in Asian economic sectors. Known as TiPOT (Technology for in-situ treatment of groundwater for potable and irrigation purposes), a key part of the project is the establishment of sustainable technology partnerships.

"With their help, we now have a solution which is transferable to many areas in need across Asia," he said.

The new plant will be maintained and operated by local village technicians.

To help apply the technology to other areas in the South Asian region, the World Bank has given a grant of USD 200,000 to the TiPOT consortium to set up six more subterranean water treatment plants in the Gangetic plains of West Bengal.