Integrated Services for Children & Mothers (ISDCM)

(a) District	:	Tangail
(b) Distance from Dist. HQ	:	16 Kms
(c) Distance from Dhaka	:	100 Kms
(d) Total area	:	389,88 acres
(e) No. of Union	:	6
(f) No. of Ward	:	54
(g) No. of Village	:	121
(h) Population	:	184,671
(i) Number of Families	:	34,568 (Project from 1991 Census)
(j) No. of College	:	3
(k) No. of High School	:	25
(l) No. of Primary School	:	49
(m) No. of Madrasha	:	11
(n) Affected Population	:	18,467
(o) Arsenic Contamination	:	10%

The community Based Safe Water Supply and Arsenic Mitigation Project at Bashail was undertaken in collaboration with UNICEF and DPHE. The project has the following objectives:

to determine the extent of arsenic contamination in all tube well water of the project area;
to identify arsenic affected patients in the project area. The initial screening of the arsenic affected patients will be done by the ISDCM field workers and then refer to trained physicians of Upazila Health Complex;
to make aware members of community of arsenic poisoning through training and orientation to the members of Upazila, Union and Ward Arsenic Mitigation Committees and to the fieldworkers of different sectoral agencies, NGOs, Imams and School teachers, formed VAMC and organize Village level meetings.

• Basic Statistics of Bashail Upazila:

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Donor & Agreement:	UNICEF, UNICEF/PCA/2002/04
Area & Duration :	Bashail Upazila of Tangail District. June 2002 – December 2002
Cost of Project :	BD. Tk. 2,058,546.00

Introduction : Bangladesh has always had a problem of getting safe and to table water. Bangladesh has three types of water resource – Surface water, Ground water and Rain Water. The surface water is the most obvious resource, but on closer inspection, there are many problems with regards to its source. The discovery of Arsenic in ground water in several areas of Bangladesh has around wide spread concern. Arsenic is a metalloid element known for its toxicity and carcinogenicity. It is relatively soluble in the water and occurs naturally in minerals. The actually toxicity of arsenic compounds in humans is predominantly function of their rate of removal from the body. Sign of chronic arsenicolism including raspiraty tract and skin cancer has been observed in population who are drinking Arsenic contaminated water.

Bashail is one of the 11 Upazilas of Tangail District. It is about two hours drive from Dhaka . Bashail Upazila consists of 6 Unions with 121 villages having population of 184,671. To determine the extent of Arsenic contamination level in tube well water this upazilas was included in the project.

The Objectives: