Newton-Bhabha Fund for arsenic research in Ganga basin

An India-UK Joint Team has won the Newton-Bhabha Fund for a project on Groundwater Arsenic Research in Ganga River Basin, an IIT-KGP statement said.
The Department of Science and Technology has undertaken the project with the Natural Environment Research Council, UK, to find solutions to the water challenges faced in the pervasively arsenic-affected Ganga River Basin.
The Indian team comprises representatives of the IIT Kharagpur, the National Institute of Hydrology, the IIT Roorkee and the Mahavir Cancer Sansthan and Research Centre of Patna, the statement said here today.
The UK team consists of representatives of the University of Manchester, the British Geological Survey, the University of Salford and the University of Birmingham.

The Newton Bhabha Fund, provided by the British Council, aims to bring together the UK and Indian scientific research and innovation sectors to find joint solutions to the challenges facing India in economic development and social welfare.
The team members involved with the project will try to assess how the problem of arsenic poisoning can get aggravated in the next 25 to 30 years and influence groundwater management practices and suggest water remedial technologies accordingly.

Prof Abhijit Mukherjee of IIT-KGP's Department of Geology and Geophysics and School of Environmental Science and Engineering is heading the project at IIT-KGP.
To begin with, Mukherjee said, the project will be conducted from three sites - Bijnor and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and Nadia in West Bengal.

The IIT-KGP had previously worked in assessing groundwater quality and the exploration of suitable and sustainable drinking water sources in different parts of India, the statement said.