Table Of ContentARSENIC CONTAMINATION IN BENGAL BASIN: REINVENTING MITIGATION
THROUGH PARTICIPATORY SOCIAL INNOVATIONS
By
KAKALI BHATTACHARYA CHAKRABARTI
A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY
Edward R. Murrow College of Communication
DECEMBER 2017
© Copyright by KAKALI BHATTACHARYA CHALKRABARTI, 2017
All Rights Reserved
© Copyright by KAKALI BHATTACHARYA CHALKRABARTI, 2017
All Rights Reserved
To the Faculty of Washington State University:
The members of the Committee appointed to examine the dissertation of KAKALI
BHATTACHARYA CHAKRABARTI find it satisfactory and recommend that it be accepted.
Jeffery Chaichana Peterson, Ph.D., Chair
Amanda Boyd, Ph.D.
Allyson Beall King, Ph.D.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
A PhD is a journey: it is culmination of one, and beginning of a new one. In this long
journey, several people have contributed to shape my ideas, ideologies and sensitivities. This
acknowledgement section names only a few people who made this journey worth, and without
whom I could not have made it this far.
First, I want to thank my Ph.D. committee chair, an extraordinary teacher and mentor, Dr.
Jeffery C. Peterson who gave a new direction to my research, and made me a better, more
thoughtful, and observant researcher. I could not have done it without him, and would forever be
indebted to him. I would also like to thank Dr. Amanda Boyd, and Dr. Allyson King who also
joined my committee mid-way through my dissertation, but nevertheless guided me through this
journey. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have learnt from them. I also thank my
previous committee chair, Dr. Todd Norton, who guided me in the beginning of my Ph.D., and I
learnt a lot from him. Sincere thanks to all faculty and staff at Washington State University I
have interacted with. They have all enriched my experience here, and have made me a better
human-being.
I thank Dr. Dipankor Chakrabarti, retired professor, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India;
and Mr Shankar De, a community social worker who helped me with my fieldwork in India.
Their guidance was extremely valuable. I would also like to thank all my research participants
who gave me their precious time and shared their wisdom. Only a part of that is documented in
this dissertation, but a major part will remain with me to keep inspiring me in my future research.
I sincerely thank Edward R. Murrow College of Communication for providing financial
support throughout my PhD. I also thank Washington State University Graduate School, and
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Burlington Northern Santa Fe Foundation, for their generous monetary support that made it
possible for me to carry out the dissertation fieldwork in India.
My friends at Washington State University enriched my life with their love for research,
teaching and service, especially Dr. Tianjiao Wang, Ms. Davi Kallman, Ms. Whitney Stefani,
and Mr. Tarik Wahidi. I’ll forever cherish the endless inspiring discussions we had.
I extend my sincere thanks to my colleagues from all the organizations I have worked
before re-entering mainstream academia after a nine years hiatus. This dissertation is enhanced
by our dreams and aspirations of making the world a better place.
My family deserves a special mention: my father Bimales Bhattacharya, and my late
grandfather, Prof Naresh C. Shastri who taught me to dream big, and to work hard to achieve it;
my mother, Sibani Bhattacharya who patiently listened to my abstract monologues about
research; and my sister, Krishna Mukherjee for the light-hearted moments we shared over phone
in the tense times. Special mention to my husband, Lt Col Pracheta Chakrabarti who asked me to
embark on this journey in the first place, and supported me throughout. Their belief in my
abilities and their unconditional love inspired me to start and finish this journey.
Finally, there is one person who deserves more credit than me in my finishing this
journey. He is my son, Ishan Chakrabarti, who left his family, his friends and his toys, and
agreed to come with me to this foreign land. He not only endured me in my struggles, but also
kept me grounded, motivated and focused. This is as much his achievement as it is mine. I hope
this PhD gives me enough knowledge and wisdom to nurture him to be a great human being.
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ARSENIC CONTAMINATION IN BENGAL BASIN: REINVENTING MITIGATION
THROUGH PARTICIPATORY SOCIAL INNOVATIONS
Abstract
by Kakali Bhattacharya Chakrabarti, Ph.D.
Washington State University
December 2017
Chair: Jeffery Chaichana Peterson
Arsenic contamination of groundwater and soil in West Bengal, India is a serious
environmental health issue. Approximately 40 million people are exposed to contamination, 20
million being seriously affected. Risk mitigation faces multiple challenges, which are primarily
historical, political, socio-cultural, and economic in nature. The current study investigated the
factors that affect perception, understanding and mitigation of Arsenic contamination risk in West
Bengal, and how culture-centered participatory communication can facilitate mitigation. 102 in-
depth interviews and 2 focus-groups were conducted with villagers, local government
representatives, doctors, scientists, teachers, health-workers, and college students, in 14
contamination-affected villages in West Bengal.
The study found multiple barriers to risk perception and mitigation. While some of those
are due to the material reality of the water infrastructure, related to issues of access, availability,
quantity and quality of water; there are myriad other issues caused by social, cultural, political,
economic and structural realities of the region, both of which significantly hinder and is hindered
by communicative issues. Even though awareness of water quality and its health impacts is
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significantly low, there is no established channel of communication between risk-managers and
end-user communities, nor do the government have any risk communication plans. This lack of
communication, coupled with the physical qualities of the risk, and socio-structural issues in the
region, causes barriers in dissemination of information, people’s understanding of the risk, and
perception and exercise of personal agency in mitigation. It creates significant misunderstanding
about the risk itself: patients are often discriminated for fear of contagiousness of the diseases,
leading to social stigma, relationship discords and societal imbalances. Arsenic causes multiple
health issues- loss of stamina for work, chronic skin lesions, cancer, ultimately leading to death.
Manpower loss, especially male members’ loss, impacts both family and village economy: change
in traditional livelihoods; educational opportunities are lost; girls are married off young thus
affecting their overall well-being. These issues cause villages to remain in the vicious cycle of
poverty. The study found need for community-based participatory research to empower
communities to identify and mitigate water contamination risks. The study informs environmental
and health risk communication and mitigation literature.
Keywords: cultural determinants of health, community-based participatory research,
culture-centered approach, risk communication, environmental health, water contamination.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGMENT................................................................................................................ iii
ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... v
LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................ x
CHAPTER 1 | INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1
Organization of the Dissertation ................................................................................................. 7
CHAPTER 2 | THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS ...................................................................... 11
Traditional Approaches in Environmental Risk Perception ...................................................... 12
Critique of Traditional Approaches and Rationale for Participatory Approaches .................... 40
Purpose, need and scope of the Study ....................................................................................... 70
CHAPTER 3 | METHODOLOGY AND METHODS ................................................................. 78
Ontology, Epistemology, Methodology and Paradigms ........................................................... 80
Site and scene: Arsenic Contamination in West Bengal ........................................................... 87
Rationale for non-positivist paradigm and critical ethnographic method ............................... 107
Researcher’s Positionality ....................................................................................................... 108
Research Design ...................................................................................................................... 115
Ensuring trustworthiness of the research ................................................................................ 134
CHAPTER 4 | FINDINGS .......................................................................................................... 140
Re-setting the site and scene ................................................................................................... 141
The administrative structure of Governance in India: ............................................................. 143
Public Health Administration .................................................................................................. 146
Water infrastructure................................................................................................................. 148
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Traditional Food habits and Farming Practices....................................................................... 156
Public health Impacts of Arsenic Contamination .................................................................... 162
Political History of West Bengal, and nature of governance .................................................. 185
Political favoritism, apathy and corruption ............................................................................. 190
Nature and Physical Qualities of Risk..................................................................................... 196
Personal Agency ...................................................................................................................... 200
The communicative challenges ............................................................................................... 210
CHAPTER 5 | DISCUSSIONS ................................................................................................... 220
Power, politics and economic means ...................................................................................... 222
Emerging challenges in water infrastructure development ..................................................... 226
Lack of Information, Communication and Education for risk mitigation .............................. 231
Challenges of risk perception/mitigation: Physical qualities, personal agency ...................... 234
Temporal and spatial discounting of risk ................................................................................ 236
Political culture of West Bengal.............................................................................................. 237
Trust and confidence with other villagers and government authorities .................................. 239
Lack of buy-in and accountability ........................................................................................... 242
Lack of community engagement in infrastructure development ............................................. 244
Fatalism and lack of personal agency as a social and political culture ................................... 245
Power relations and inherent mistrust among stakeholders .................................................... 246
Scope and opportunities of participatory methods .................................................................. 248
Researcher’s positionality ....................................................................................................... 252
CHAPTER 6 | SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSION ............................................................. 255
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Role of government in water service delivery ........................................................................ 258
Public-private-people’s partnership ........................................................................................ 260
Financing water service delivery............................................................................................. 265
Suggested risk mitigation plan ................................................................................................ 267
Performance monitoring .......................................................................................................... 277
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 280
BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................... 282
APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................ 320
Appendix 1: Interview protocol | Villagers ............................................................................. 321
Appendix 2: Interview protocol | government officials, and scientific experts ...................... 323
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Description:Arsenic contamination of groundwater and soil in West Bengal, India is a factors that affect perception, understanding and mitigation of Arsenic
