issues concerning uranium mines in jharkhand
TRANSCRIPT
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Issues Concerning Uranium
Mines in Jharkhand
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Issues Concerning UraniumMines in Jharkhand
By
1) Debashish Khargharia
2) Kumar Gautam
3) Piyush Saraogi
4) Satyarth Jaiswal
5) Vaibhav Bansal
Disclaimer : The primary basis of this presentation is the interaction with two social activists and few villagers and theunderlying assumption that everything that the social activists and the villagers told to us was the truth.
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An Excerpt.
DYAN LOHAR was born in Jaduguda,Jharkhand, with one eye, no nose and a mouthtoo small for his own fingers. He has nine fingersand seven toes. Now 15, he lies on a cot as his
mother feeds him rice porridge in small scoops.The past 15 years of 43-year-old Kuntis life havebeen devoted to a son whose worldview isexpressed only by grunts and foot taps. She is
angry, bitter and suffers from depression. Thereare so many kids like Dyan in the nearby villages.Go disturb them, she grumbles. We did, andfound 18-year-old Mithun Patrao, who fares
slightly better than Dyan he can utter six
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Objective
To study the conditions of villages
affected by the mining practices of
UCIL
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Methodology
Question Based
Based on health conditions, living conditions,
working environment in UCIL for laborers, demands of
people and actions taken by UCIL
Experience Based
Listening to experiences and views of differentparties involved
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Methodology Contd.
People involved
Local public of affected villages
Workers at UCIL
Social Activists
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Uranium Corporation of India
UCIL is a centrally owned Public SectorUndertaking (PSU), under the Departmentof Atomic Energy for Uranium mining andUranium Processing
Founded in 1967
Mines at Jadugora, Bhatin, Narwapahar,Turamdih and Banduhurang
Contributes 3% (4th highest in the country)to national power requirement
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Mr. Ghanshyam Biruli
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Mr. Ghanshyam Biruli
President, Jharkhand
Organisation Against
Radiation (JOAR)
Village Telaitand
Earlier President of
Jharkhand Adivasi Bistapit NirojgarSangh
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Issues
Decreasing women fertility,miscarriage (47 in 1000) and birth ofstill-born babies
Children disabled, blood cancer andTB (140/1000) in adults
Outsiders are refusing to marry locals
Down To earth magazine reports areawithin 5km radius not fit for settlement
Frogs, fishes, cattle, etc have alsodied
Hospitals charge Rs 2000 for check-
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Issues
Tailing Ponds reducing their fertileland
Faulty and unsafe design
Half of village population work in UCILmainly without proper safety dress
Not allowed to measure radiation
levels Pressure from govt., fear of losing jobs
and 2-year famine have made
Mazdoor Unions defunct
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Demands
Protective measures against Radiation
Rehabilitation and Employment for thedisplaced
Participation in Public Hearings
Information about Radiation Levels
Enhanced safety measures during
work and disposal of tailing andradioactive wastes
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Shri Sagar Bisra (An employee of UCIL &
also a social activist)
Village named Dhodanga
Banduhurang open-cast mines
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Issues
Employment
Rehabilitation Policy
Absorption of large number ofdisplaced workers as contractlabourers
Compensation : Negligible and someeven pending
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Demands
Proper, permanent rehabilitation andresettlement
Employment to all displaced adults Better & quicker compensation
Proper and regular medical check-up
of all. Public disclosure of Radiation Levels
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IDPD Survey
IDPD conducted a health survey in 2007 thatlooked at 2,118 families within 2.5 km of the mines.It found that 9.5 percent of newborns die each yeardue to extreme physical deformities.
UCIL officials are dismissive about the allegationsof health hazards due to radiation. In the words ofUCIL chairman Ramendra Gupta, The uranium weproduce is of low grade and our mines have a
density of only about 0.4 percent of uranium for allthe drilling we do.
Our Question to UCIL :- Then why not call foran independent inquiry ?
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AERB Rules & The Reality
RULE Open-cast mines should be fenced,according to UCIL guidelines. They should bewell-engineered and designed taking all
possible measures to save the public from anyradiation exposure.
REALITY At Banduhurang, there is no barbedwire, no prohibitory signs, no warnings aboutradiation and no demarcation of territory.
Source : http://www.aerb.gov.in/
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RULE Control measures should be taken toreduce the spread of radioactivity through air,water and by contamination from waste rockpiles
REALITY At Banduhurang, the waste liesscattered in mounds of radioactive rocks anddust, not just on the outskirts of villagesbordering the mine, but even inside the village.
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Open Cast Mines
Village dangerously close to the blastarea
High frequency of blasts more than
the government norms Dumping of waste on the cultivable
land of the village
No proper compensation for the landacquired
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Recommendations
Need of Co-ordination among thevarious villages
Proper rehabilitation
Ensure safety of villagers from healthhazards due to radiation
Transparency
Trade-off
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Thank You