Progress/Status Report | Visit to the site by the Project Well director on 22nd October 2008

The water of this dugwell, # PW74, is clear and people of the village are using the water for cooking and drinking since June. There is no organic smell in the water. In August the number of families using the dugwell water was 12 and 48 consumers. But in September the users had stopped using the water saying that they were catching cold (hay fever) from drinking the dugwell water. The field workers visited several times to advise them that it is a myth. And on 22nd October we visited PW74 when we found out that the people had stopped for about 15 days, during the typical seasonal allergy (flu / hay fever) period when everybody in the overcrowded areas get sick from the infectious cold virus. The same sickness of 3-4 days is common in the city too. The spread of the cold virus and how to prevent it was explained to the people with the help of a slideshow (picture) and once again told them how the arsenic free dugwell water will protect their health in the long run while water of the arsenic contaminated tubewell would increase their sickness because arsenic affects almost all parts of the body that would result in increase of their medical bill.