Fwd: [GRASSROOTS-in-action] Nuclear Mishap in Jharkhnd: Alarm Bell Goes Loud and Clear!
Grassroots Media Initiative
Date: Dec 27, 2006 8:05 PM
Subject: Nuclear Mishap in Jharkhnd: Alarm Bell Goes Loud and Clear!
The following is an English translation by a friend of a Hindustan Dainik article.
Sukla
Hindustan, 26 Dec 2006
UCIL's Uranium sludge mixes with Creek water, after a pipe carrying it
bursts
Uranium waste has started to flow in a nearby creek, after a pipe
belonging to UCIL's tailing pond in Tilaitand burst. As a result,
fish, frogs and other riparian life in the creek are starting to die
and are washing up to the surface. Tribals from Dungaridinh allege
that they informed the the Central Industrial Security Force about
this disaster Sunday morning, but that even after 9 hours, no officer
from CISF bothered to even show up at the disaster site. It was only
around 4 pm that the flow of Uranium sludge into the tailing pond from
the Mill House was arrested, and the villagers could finally breate a
sigh of relief. Scared and angry villagers have stopped all work in
the area and no dumpers or trucks are now allowed in or out of the
area. Although workers from UCIL have started to repair the pipe since
Monday morning, the villagers say this is not enough. They say that
UCIL is also obliged to clean up the toxic sludge which has formed a
thick layer on the surface of the creek. Unless this is done, they
will continue to agitate and will not allow further work.
Ghanshyam Biruli, the president of Jharkhand Organization against
Radiation(JOAR), has also arrived at the disaster site. He says that
people bathe and wash clothes in the creek water. Since the pipe burst
on Sunday, the villagers have been quite distraught and fearful.
According to Biruli, the creek water has stopped flowing because a
thick layer of Uranium sludge has formed on the surface of the creek
starting from Dungaridinh and ending at the colony temple. It is quite
likely that the Gurra and Svarnalekha rivers will also be adversely
affected by this environmental disaster. This Uranium sludge is dumped
from the Jadugoda unit of the UCIL though a pipe into the tailing
pond. After the pipe burst, and the Uranium
sludge started to flow into the creek, fish, frogs, snakes and other
riparian life forms have begun to die and are washing up to the
surface. P Soren, Shripati Patro, Sukhlal Bahumik, Dubri Devgan,
Sanjay Murmu, Bolay Majhi, Duli Kutiya, Prem Majhi and Sunil Murmu,
all residents of Dungaridinh say that even if UCIL does clean up the
mess it created, the water in the creek will still not be usable for
at least 3 to 4 days. It is only after that the villagers will be able
to bathe and wash clothes in the creek.
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