ABSTRACT
Despite many efforts over the last 25 years, millions of people are still drinking groundwater having arsenic above Bangladesh and World Health Organization limits. This can be linked, to some extent, to a lack of pragmatic policies and implementation strategies. Important lessons have been learned from extensive studies in Araihazar and Matlab in Bangladesh. Also better mitigation strategies for reducing arsenic exposure have been demonstrated at both locations. New policy and mitigation strategies should focus on mapping using mobile technology for village scale mapping. Dissemination of test result is extremely important in increasing awareness of the users and a new three-color scheme (Blue, Green, Red corresponding to <10, 10–50, and >50 µg L−1) instead of existing Red-Green color scheme should be adopted to lower arsenic intake. Safe wells can be installed at appropriate locations and depth by combining hydrogeological and social criteria aided by applications-based score ranking.
