Punjab Post Daily Online Newspaper & Print Media
New Delhi, April 5 (Punjab Post Bureau) – Non availability of good surface water quality and growing need for drinking water leads to over utilization of underground water. This excessive withdrawal and tapping of water from deep aquifers leads to more interaction of pollutants with water and is a cause of concern. An international water quality expert, Prof. A V Geen from Department of Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, New York, USA delivered academic lecture to students and faculty of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, GNDU titled “A geochemist’s 3 lessons from 18 years of studying arsenic in groundwater across South/South East Asia”. Prof. Geen is a world leading scientist in arsenic hydrogeochemistry and worked in Bangladesh, Vietnam, Pakistan. He has published more than ten papers in world top journals like Nature, Science, The Lancet and Environmental Health Perspectives and done his doctorate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. Lecture was inaugurated by Director of Research, Professor T S Banipal in presence of students, research scholars and faculty from Botanical & Environmental Sciences, Chemistry, Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Sciences. The head of the department presented the department profile. Dr M S Bhatti, Associate Professor who is working in collaboration with Prof Geen under PEER Science programme funded by United States Aid for International Development (USAID) and National Science Foundation (NSF), USA, highlighted the achievements of Prof. Geen. The outcome of 3 years work in Punjab by testing well waters of more than 1600 water samples were analyzed for various water quality parameters. Preliminary findings have revealed that the Ravi flood plains, close to international border, are highly contaminated and situation is comparable to that in Bangladesh. Prof Geen highlighted the fact that there is less possibility of any human intervention leading to arsenic contamination of ground water; natural presence of arsenic in soil strata is the main cause of higher arsenic content. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has recommended an acceptable level up to 10 parts per billion (ppb), whereas maximum permissible limit for arsenic is 50 ppb as per drinking water quality standards.
Prof. Navdeep Singh Tung, Dean, Academic Affairs, GNDU, Chief Guest delivered key note address and highlighted flagship programme of the university. Prof. Tung suggested making better research ties in terms of students and faculty exchange programme between GNDU and Columbia University, New York. He appreciated the efforts put by the department and advised the faculty and students to get maximum benefit from international experts. The lecture ended by vote of thanks by Dean, Life Sciences, Prof. Avinash Nagpal. The lecture Coordinator Dr M S Bhatti of the department is working on major research project funded by the University Grants Commission (UGC) on arsenic rich reject water of community reverse osmosis (RO) plants in the region.
