Arsenic Contamination in Shallow Groundwater in Karimpur Block of Nadia District (West Bengal, India)—A Spatial and Geostatistical Approach; [Arsenkontamination in seichtem Grundwasser im Karimpur-Block des Distrikts Nadia (Westbengalen, Indien) – ein raumbezogener und geostatistischer Ansatz]

Groundwater resources are prone to arsenic poisoning, and millions of people around the world are at risk as a result, particularly in densely populated areas in Nadia district (West Bengal, India). In this research, GIS was utilized to visualize the distribution of arsenic concentrations. The geospatial map correlates the arsenic events with the groundwater depth of the Karimpur block. Present study examines the spatial distributions of groundwater arsenic and compares and contrasts several deterministic and stochastic prediction methods to better understand the nature of arsenic geospatial distributions in aquifers. Geostatistical model (Radial Basis Function, areal interpolation) was used to identify the spatial distribution of arsenic within the study area. Spatial clustering analysis were performed to identify arsenic hot-spot villages. Most of the hotspot villages are observed in the south and north-east part of Karimpur-II block. The highest concentration of arsenic in groundwater was found at Mahisbathan in Karimpur-II block, at 1.18 mg/l. The spatial correlation study between arsenic contamination and groundwater shows, the highest arsenic-contaminated villages are concentrated in shallow groundwater depth (less than 3.6 m/bgl) region in the post-monsoon season. In the pre-monsoon season, the maximum concentration of arsenic-contaminated villages is distributed in 6.1 m/bgl groundwater depth area. According to the findings of the current study, these are critical initiatives for future generations’ groundwater protection and prevention. © 2022, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kartographie e.V.