JOURNAL OF CRITICAL REVIEWS ISSN- 2394-5125 VOL 7, ISSUE 19, 2020 711 SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF GROUNDWATER ARSENIC CONTAMINATION IN GOPESWAR AND ITS NEIGHBORING VILLAGES OF KAMRUP DISTRICT OF ASSAM, INDIA Tirthankar Sarma 1 , Dr. Sailaananda Saikia 2 1 Research Scholar, Department of Geography, Rajiv Gandhi University, Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh 2 Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Rajiv Gandhi University, Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh E-mail: tirthankar389@gmail.com 1 , s.sailajananda@gmail.com 2 ABSTRACT: Arsenic contamination in groundwater is a widespread problem in many villages of Assam. Largest number of people in Assam affected by arsenic toxicity is due to arsenic contaminated drinking water. The groundwater of 24 district of Assam has been contaminated by arsenic. Groundwater of Gopeswar and its neighbouring villages of Assam have been contaminated by arsenic beyond World Health Organization limitation. Gopeswar and its neighbouring villages shares same hydrological condition with neighbouring state West Bengal where arsenic concentration is very high. Gopeswar and its neighbouring villages are situated in the flood plain region of river Brahmaputra. The aim of this research paper is to investigate the spatial distribution pattern of arsenic contamination in the study area. Water samples were collected from Gopeswar and its neighbouring villages to know the level of arsenic contamination in groundwater. Samples were collected from tube wells used for drinking, cooking and other household purposes. Based on field data arsenic distribution map have been prepared with the help of Geographical Information System. The coordinates of the locations were recorded using Geographical positioning System machine. It was found that Gopeswar and its neighbouring villages have arsenic contamination more than World Health Origination limit i.e. 10 ppb. Villagers of the study area use arsenic contaminated drinking water. This has caused a variety of health related problems like skin disease, bronchitis, anemia and cancer. Therefore, a proper strategy is required for arsenic mitigation in the study area through supply of safe drinking water KEYWORDS: Groundwater, arsenic, villagers and spatial Distribution I. INTRODUCTION Water is the most essential component of nature and without which the human life would never sustain in the earth. Human being from its inception on earth lived with water for its survival but with the change of human relation with nature, things changed to a great extend. Groundwater is the purest form of water for drinking. But in the last century many things had change with human interferences toward its nature. In groundwater arsenic can be found through the dissolution of minerals and ores. Arsenic is naturally occurring chemical element that found in the earth crust with symbol As raised greatly concern from environment and health perspective. According to United States Environment Protection agency arsenic is a harmful substance and a group A- carcinogen. Arsenic is a group V heavy element which atomic number 33 and its atomic weight 74.9amu, specific gravity 5.73g/cm. Drinking water is one of the main source of arsenic. According to World Health Origination the limit of arsenic in drinking water is 10 million of a gram per liter (10μg/L) of water (WHO, 2001). Arsenic in water is a vital problem in many countries around the world including Bangladesh, India, and China etc. According to the United Nation, 2006 more than 1 billion people already lack access to fresh drinking water (UNDP, 2006). Global consumption of water is doubling in every 20 years, more than twice the rate of human population growth. Water which is used by human must be free from physical, chemical and biological contamination. Arsenic is known water contaminant raising big health issues in India (ATSDR, 2005). In India groundwater arsenic contamination and health effect was first reported in 1997 in Chandigarh (David, 1977). In India nearly 80 per cent of the rural population of the rural domestic needs is fulfilled by groundwater (Akter, 2011). At present times, groundwater potential of 4, 22,900 million cubic meter is available for utilization and about 1,00,000 million cubic meters is being exploited. Presently, 89 per cent use (115 billion liters per day) in industrial and only 5 per cent (93 billion per day) is use for domestic purpose.