The first cases of arsenic-induced skin lesions were identified across the border in West Bengal, India, in 1983. The Bangladesh government and many international agencies have known the approximate size of the disaster for three years. In Dhaka there is no feeling that the government is gearing up to tackle a disaster. So far the government has covered only 1,000. If they go on at this pace, it will take hundreds of years before they reach all the villages.
Arsenic poisoning is a slow-ticking time bomb.
Skin cancer typically occurs 20 years after people start ingesting the poison. Caught early enough, skin cancer is treatable. The real danger is internal cancers, especially of the bladder and lung cancer, which are usually fatal. Bangladesh's monsoon provides massive amounts of rain which has not traditionally been harvested for drinking. Slowly, in pilot programmes such as this, the long overdue effort is beginning.