HYDERABAD, June 17: A joint team of scientists of the Sindh University and doctors of the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences on Tuesday detected skin diseases among four villagers caused by consumption of arsenic-heavy underground water in Arbab Allah Bux village near Tando Allahyar.

The team led by eminent scientist Prof Dr Mohammad Yar Khuhawar, project director of High-tech Research Central Laboratory of Sindh University, visited the village after tests conducted earlier confirmed high arsenic levels in underground water of the village.

The doctors’ team comprising Dr Doulat Rai Bajaj, head of Department of Dermatology, Dr Pervez Iqbal, consultant dermatologist LUMHS and two postgraduate students, Dr Nisar Ahmed Mahar and Dr Santosh Kumar examined more than 70 people including male, female and children of different ages and found them suffering from skin diseases.

The team finally confirmed arsenic affects in four people who were using underground water of hand pumps. The four carried signs of hypo-pigmentation, hyper-pigmentation and de-pigmentation on different parts of their bodies, the team said.

More than 50 people including females and majority of children were also found affected with different skin diseases and were given medicines and tubes.

The Sindh University team collected more water samples for tests and the doctors’ team collected blood and urine samples of the four patients for further examination in laboratories.

The doctors expressed concern over possibility of more cases of arsenic among 1,000 people of the village since almost all people had been using underground water.

The joint team urged the government to provide cheap filters to the villagers for removal of arsenic from water before consumption.

The Sindh University scientists had collected 90 underground water samples from five villages of Tando Allahyar on April 15 and found high levels of arsenic in the water samples of three villages.

BISE decision: The Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association (SPLA) on Tuesday voiced its opposition to a decision of the Hyderabad Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education to send examination copies of compulsory subjects of English, Urdu, Sindhi and Pakistan Studies of intermediate science group to teachers’ homes for assessment.

The vice-president of the association, Prof Yaqoob Chandio, said in a statement that instead of centralised assessment system, the board had reintroduced the 15-year-old system, which would give rise to corruption and nepotism on a massive scale, and open sale of marks.

It would also cause delay in the assessment of copies and announcement of results and would jeopardise the admission schedule of professional universities, he cautioned.

Mr Chandio pointed out that Larkana and Sukkur boards, which were established only four or five years ago, had already adopted centralised assessment system within the board premises for compulsory as well as optional subjects of arts group. It had greatly helped the boards announce results on time and without raising any suspicion, he said.

He demanded that the competent authority get rid of retired bureaucrats working in the educational boards and replace them with in-service professors.

Services at LUMHS being upgraded inauguration: Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences Vice-Chancellor Professor Noshad Ahmed Shaikh inaugurated a seminar room, museum and library in the Department of Radiology and Imaging at the city branch here on Tuesday.