The government today disclosed that arsenic contamination in ground water has been reported from isolated areas in 53 districts in five States. The Minister of Water Resources Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply that they include 28 districts of Uttar Pradesh, 15 in Bihar, 8 in West Bengal and one district each of Assam and Chattisgarh. He also said that sporadic incidences of heavy metal pollution have also been reported from a few industrial belts in different parts of the country. The Minister said that 27 cases of congenital blindness have been reported from Bihar but according to Indian Council of Medical Research this has not been co-related with the high content of arsenic in potable water. He was replying to a question on whether the government is aware about a large number of children being born totally blind in the districts affected by the presence of arsenic and other heavy metals in the ground water.