Impact of arsenic pollution on spatial distribution of human development index

This paper reports the impact of arsenic pollution on Human Development Index (HDI) that shows the development standard of a society, country, or a region. HDI is the average of the three dimension indices of Education, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and Life Expectancy. The study area includes six peripheral administrative blocks of the district Murshidabad of West Bengal, India. About 1.07 million people are exposed to arsenic pollution in this area of whom 0.32 million people are exposed to arsenic concentration above 0.05 mg/L, the WHO maximum permissible level of arsenic in drinking water. Arsenic concentration in groundwater in this area ranges from 0 to 0.35 mg/L. Three dimension indices of HDI were calculated to observe the impact of arsenic pollution on HDI. Life expectancy index was the main cause of reduction in HDI as it was affected by arsenic pollution in groundwater. The study revealed that HDI was highly affected by the arsenic pollution in all six blocks analyzed as HDI was reduced up to 25% due to reduction in life expectancy because of arsenic pollution in groundwater. Blocks Lalgola and Raninagar-2 are of major concern as the observed reduction in HDI was as high as 20 to 25% in some of the mouzas (sub-areas/groups of villages and hamlets) of these two blocks where arsenic pollution in groundwater was very high (0.25 to 0.35 mg/L). The study demonstrated a quantitative and widely acceptable method for the public health engineers to go for proper planning of alternative water supply schemes and management of arsenic mitigation options on a priority basis.