Arsenic Poisoning in Bangladesh Is Still a Danger to Many

I thought this problem was resolved years ago. When the news came about more than a decade back, lots of international activities were observed. Many deep wells were dug, many promises were made by successive Bangladeshi governments and international organizations and many sympathetic nations. It's not that all these efforts were just simply fruitless. Many millions got spared from drinking arsenic contaminated water in Bangladesh. But according to this news article published in ABC it is the poor, the most marginalized and the people with no political clout are suffering the most because of rampant nepotism and the overall poor governance in Bangladesh. Here is an excerpt:

"An estimated 20 million people in Bangladesh are still being poisoned by arsenic-tainted water — a number that has remained unchanged from 10 years ago despite years of action to dig new wells at safer depths, according to a new report released Wednesday by Human Rights Watch. 

The New York-based rights group blames nepotism and neglect by Bangladeshi officials, saying they're deliberately having new wells dug in areas convenient for friends, family members and political supporters and allies, rather than in places where arsenic contamination is highest or large numbers of poor villagers are being exposed."

In a democracy based nation like Bangladesh this should be totally unacceptable. The current secular government has taken many good initiatives that helped many poor and the impoverished people but there should be no tolerance toward nepotism where selected villages get preference over the neglected ones because of political consideration and not based on scientific facts and need.

Reference: 
1. Bangladesh Failing Spare Millions from Arsenic Poisoning.