Agartala, Jan. 30: Abnormally high iron content in Tripura's underground water is responsible for the high incidence of water-borne diseases in the state. The iron content is so high that it cannot be treated and neutralised even by filtration.

In fact, rainwater is much purer than the state's underground water and needs sustained preservation.

This startling fact came to the fore during a seminar at the government-run Prajna Bhawan auditorium in speeches delivered by specialists on the subject.

The seminar was organised by the Central Ground Water Board. The additional chief engineer in the state's water resource department, Sanchayita Das, and the board's scientist S.M. Hossain expressed grave concern over high iron content in groundwater of Tripura.

"It is a matter of deep concern that there is very high iron content at groundwater level in the state and this cannot be neutralised even by filter. It poses a major health hazard and it seems an imperative that people store and preserve rainwater and drink it after boiling," Das said.

She asserted that rainwater is very safe and transparent. Both Das and Hossain stressed on the need to use water of ring wells.

They said in the Kadamtala area of North Tripura, Kailasahar in Unakoti district and Jirania in West Tripura district, arsenic had been traced in underground water but the level was not very high or dangerous.

They said in the nineties, high arsenic level had been traced in underground water level in Sonamura subdivision bordering Bangladesh.

This was found by Jadavpur University professor Dipankar Roy Chowdhury, but the latest tests had not confirmed the presence of high level of arsenic in water of Sonamura and nearby areas, they said.

The experts also forecast a deepening water crisis in Tripura in the near future.

"There has been a steady decline in rainfall, although last year the monsoon rain was normal. Besides, largescale deforestation as a result of allotment of forest land and rapid expansion of rubber cultivation beyond acceptable limits have been compounding the problems," Das said. Hossain echoed her.

They pleaded for optimising rubber cultivation and replantation of forest land to create congenial conditions for adequate rainfall. "Specific and targeted measures have to be initiated to make annual rainfall normal. Otherwise, the state will be heading for disaster due to reduction in rainfall and resultant water crisis," Hossain said.