Behrampore (PTI): The Centre is determined to supply arsenic-free water in the country whereever it is detected in ground water above the permissible limit, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Sunday.

Mukherjee was speaking after the inauguration of a arsenic treatment plant at Majjhampur in Beldanga bloc 1, 40 km from here.

He said that the Centre would also help the state government check erosion of the Ganga in Murshidabad district.

Speaking on the occasion, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee said that of the state's total 314 blocks, 79 had been arsenic affected.

He said that the central government had alway been generous to finance the setting up of arsenic treatment plants in the state.

The Majjhampur project was built at a cost of Rs Six and a half crore and would benifit seven mouzas in the area.