PROJECT OVERVIEW

Natural contamination of groundwater with arsenic poses a serious health threat across many regions of India. Yet mitigation efforts have historically been fragmented, with limited coordination between civil society organisations, provincial governments and technical experts. The Arsenic Knowledge and Action Network was established to bridge this gap, bringing together partner organisations and individual members across India around a shared vision of systematic and structural change in arsenic mitigation strategies. SaciWATERs acts as the secretariat of the network, with seed funding from Arghyam, Bangalore.

WHAT WE DID

The network fostered platforms for joint consultations and action research, bridged capacity gaps related to the technical aspects of arsenic contamination, leveraged existing local knowledge and communication channels including local newspapers and community platforms, and built convergence with programs, institutions and service delivery organisations across India.

WHAT WE ACHIEVED

The network reached communities across multiple states through training workshops, health camps, awareness campaigns and field visits. Key outreach included training workshops in Nalbari with 68 trainees, a JalChaupal workshop with 46 members, health camps and awareness programs reaching 220 participants, a workshop on arsenic problems bringing together 300 experts, testing of 73 hand pumps, and a two day health camp in Simri village in Buxar district reaching a population of nearly 1,900 people, where 34 persons were found affected with arsenicosis and 200 were made aware of arsenic related health risks.

FUNDER

Arghyam