Excessive levels of arsenic, iron and chloride have been found in the tube-well water of 6,888 government primary schools across the country. The Directorate of Primary Education has asked district primary education officers to instruct the affected schools not to use this tube-well water as drinking water.
The directive was issued in a letter signed by Mirajul Islam Ukil, director (planning and development) of the Directorate of Primary Education, on Wednesday (Sept. 2). The letter was sent to primary education officers in every district of the country. The letter said the Department of Public Health Engineering had tested water sources at the remaining 47,369 government primary schools, excluding those already tested under the PEDP4, GPS and NNGPS projects.
The tests found that water at 40,481 schools is acceptable as safe drinking water. On the other hand, water at 6,888 schools was found to contain arsenic, iron and chloride above acceptable levels. In light of this, the affected schools have been instructed to refrain from using their tube-well water as drinking water. The Directorate of Primary Education has also asked district primary education officers to take the necessary steps in this regard.
The letter further said that, based on the water-testing report, separate lists of the 40,481 schools deemed acceptable as safe drinking water and the 6,888 schools found to have excessive arsenic, iron and chloride have been attached. The measure follows a report from the Department of Public Health Engineering dated Aug. 13.