Abstract

A STUDY ON SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF ARSENIC IN GROUND WATER SAMPLES OF DHEMAJI DISTRICT OF ASSAM, INDIA BY USING ARC VIEW GIS SOFTWARE

Author(s): MRIDUL BURAGOHAIN and H. P. SARMA

The groundwater arsenic problem has raised wide spread concerns in different parts of the world and results reported by various agencies is alarming. The latest WHO evaluation concludes that arsenic exposure via drinking water is causally related to cancer in the lungs, kidney, bladder and skin, the last of which is preceded by directly observable precancerous lesions. The elevated level of arsenic in groundwater is a new public concern in rural district like Dhemaji. In this study forty water samples representing the study area were collected from five development blocks of Dhemaji districts over a period of three years from 2007 to 2010 and analyzed for arsenic by using AAS. Spatial distribution maps for arsenic in different seasons were prepared using curve fitting method in Arc View GIS software. It may be seen from our results that most of the groundwater samples of the study area were found unsafe with regard to arsenic.