Adoption of Piped Water Source in an Arsenic Affected Area

Abstract

: The paper studies adoption of piped water source as mitigation strategy against arsenic contamination in an arsenic affected village of West Bengal, India. It finds that the households affected by arsenicosis are more likely to adopt an arsenic-safe source than the unaffected households. The paper also analyses the role of factors like the extensiveness of arsenicosis, intensity of symptoms and the years of experience about the health and social hazards associated with it at the household level on the adoption decision of the households. It finds that although the marginal impact of these factors on the adoption decision is small, the effect of years of suffering is stronger than the other two factors. The results derived in the paper have important policy implications. The results suggest that greater adoption of piped water sources in arsenic affected villages can be facilitated if the awareness is spread through the households, who suffered from arsenicosis for a long time. The piped water sources must be located more evenly in the clustered villages for greater adoption. A more continuous supply of piped water may remove the observed high-income bias from adoption of piped water in arsenic affected villages, where it is freely provided.