3 min readChandigarhJul 7, 2012 02:39 AM IST
First published on: Jul 7, 2012 at 02:39 AM IST
Punjab is the first,and so far the only state,to report presence of uranium in rural drinking water with almost 70 per cent samples sent to Mumbai-based Bhabha Atomic Research Institute (BARC) from various districts of the state testing positive for the presence of the radioactive material,Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said here on Friday.
“Of the 2,462 samples sent to the Bhabha Atomic Research Institute (BARC) from Punjab,results of 1,642 have come. Of these,1140 samples have tested positive for uranium,” Ramesh,who was here for a review of rural water and sanitation schemes,told reporters.
“This is a new and serious concern. So far,improving water quality meant ridding it of arsenic or flouride content or salinity or heavy metals like mercury or lead. Now we must evolve a process to remove uranium as well,” he said.
He laid the foundation stone of a laboratory,the first in Punjab,to test drinking water for contamination of radioactive uranium. Situated at Mohali,it will be run by an independent agency with the help of Punjab University and BARC,the minister said. Punjab would get Rs 4 crore central assistance for the project. The laboratory is likely to be operational in six to eight months.
Ramesh said Punjab waters contained arsenic content as well. “Arsenic is carcinogenic and has been found in the waters of Bihar,West Bengal and Assam,apart from other states as well. In Punjab as well,it has been found in two settlements in Gurdaspur district. There is high presence of flouride content in Madhya Pradesh,Karnataka and Jharkhand,” Ramesh said.
A recent standing committee report tabled during the budget session of Parliament had criticised Rural Development ministry for not showing the “desired level of urgency and seriousness” in dealing with uranium contamination in waters of Punjab.
Ramesh had then blamed the state government for not submitting the required proposal for treatment of waters. Today,however,he said the Parkash Singh Badal government had set up a panel of specialists to study contamination of drinking water. The panel,to be headed by the Principal Secretary of Science and Technology department,has been asked to submit its report within three months.
“The experts will examine all technologies of water purification such as reverse osmosis and ultra-filtration process to suggest ways to deal with uranium contamination and a proposal will then be submitted to the union ministry,” Punjab water supply and sanitation secretary Sanjay Kumar,who was also present,said.
Kumar informed that the samples for testing presence of uranium were collected from the entire state but a majority of them were from worst-affected districts of Malwa belt such as Bathinda,Mansa,Faridkot,Ferozepur,Sangrur,Moga,Barnala and some parts of Ludhiana.
“We are providing RO water for drinking and cooking in 1800 settlements of the state. After the panel submits its recommendations,we will install the technology,” he added.
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