M A I N   N E W S

BARC: Uranium cause of Malwa water contamination 
Balwant Garg/TNS

The HC had assigned the job to BARC during the hearing of a public interest petition, filed by Brijinder Singh Loomba. The petition was filed two years back after a UK-based clinical toxicologist Carin Smit came out with a startling revelation that traces of uranium and other heavy metals were found in the hair samples of children and adults in Faridkot district.

As there are no uranium mines in Punjab, the high concentration of this radioactive material was quite baffling for environmentalists and scientists.

The BARC report claims that the high salinity of water in the Malwa region acts as a catalyst for uranium toxicity.

“When water percolates through the soil, it dissolves carbon dioxide gas to form carbonic acid, which further reacts with calcium carbonates to form calcium bicarbonate which is an efficient leaching agent for uranium from soil. Formation of bicarbonate while water is percolating through soil enhances is efficiency for uranium leaching”, reads the BARC report. It was submitted to the High Court on February 15, says Onkar Singh Batalvi, BARC counsel.

The BARC said the onus of cutting down uranium content in fertilisers lies on the manufacturers.

Dirty Punjab waters

The BARC report comes after the Punjab and Haryana High Court sent a questionnaire to the premier atomic research centre two weeks ago, asking if the agrochemical processes were responsible for uranium toxicity in Punjab waters.

The petition was filed two years back after a UK-based clinical toxicologist Carin Smit came out with a startling revelation that traces of uranium and other heavy metals were found in the hair samples of children and adults in Faridkot district.