Pranab promises UPA govt help for arsenic treatment

Kolkata, Mar 16 (UNI) External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said the UPA government at the Centre has given special importance to supply of arsenic free water to people and control of river bank erosion.

He was speaking today at the inaugural function of the river-based water treatment plant at Mahyampur under Beldanga-1 block of Murshidabad district in West Bengal.

He said more projects would come up in the district.

Inaugurating the water treatment plant, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya said the Centre has given assistance to the state for development work.

He said that 79 out of 341 blocks in the state are arsenic-prone.

The government is determined to supply arsenic free water to people. Political differences should not come in the way of development work, he observed.

State Minister for Public Health Engineering Gautam Dev, Adhir Ranjan Choudhuri and Moinul Hasan both MPs were among the others who spoke on the occasion.

The Mahyampur water treatment plant set up at a cost of Rs six crore is to supply arsenic free water to about 70,000 people.

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