[sacw] S A A N Post | 10-11 Sept. 00

[Harsh Kapoor]

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South Asians Against Nukes Post
10-11 September 2000
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#1. Bangladesh:Opposition to Nuclear Power Plant
#2. India: Supreme court admits case of radiation diseases affecting Bihar
tribals

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#1.

9 sept.2000

Dear Friends,

In the Nuclear Disarmament Conference in Dhaka during 18-20 February 2000,
we unanimously took a resolution opposing Government of Bangladesh's idea
to revive the proposal of building a nuclear power plant at Rooppur which
had been shelved for years. Within a week of our conference, Bangladesh
became a signatory to CTBT which is indeed praiseworthy. Last week, the
Government of Bangladesh again reasserted its position to go ahead with the
power project. Prime Minister of Bangladesh may take up this issue in her
bilateral negotiations with the US President in Ocober during her visit to
Washington and would seek US assistance in this regard.

There is a press report in Dhaka that the Government of India is planning
to buld a nuclear power plant in the Sundarbans, which is the largest
mangrove forest in the world. We feel worried.

We like to request our friends, partners and all peace-loving people of the
region to register protest against such action. While many governments in
the West have decided not build any new nuclear power plant and are closing
down their existing nuclear power plants, our governments are still in love
with these which they consider as "prestige projects". This is not
acceptable.

In solidarity,

Mohiuddin Ahmad
CDL, Dhaka

Community Development Library (CDL)
[Network of Development Information & Communication]
# 39, Road 14A, Dhanmondi
Dhaka 1205, Bangladesh

phones: +88.02.8113769, 8110495
fax: +88.02.8110254

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#2.

Apex court admits case of radiation diseases affecting Bihar tribals

by Kavita Bajeli-Datt, India Abroad News Service

New Delhi, Sep 9 - The Supreme Court has admitted a public interest suit
which accuses the Uranium Corporation of India (UCIL) of not taking steps to
safeguard people from the effects of uranium mining activities in Jaduguda
in southern Bihar.

The suit, filed by well-known civil activist and lawyer B.L. Wadehra, also
states that people living near the uranium mines are suffering from
radiation-related diseases like cancer, leukaemia, tuberculosis, impotency
and physical deformities.

Wadehra filed the litigation in the Supreme Court in April last year but it
was finally admitted this week. The court said it would give its judgement
after hearing both parties.

The court decided to admit the litigation after Wadehra filed the report of
a fact-finding team he had set up in March to study the situation in the
areas near the uranium mines in Jaduguda in Bihar's Singbhum district. The
report describes the "miserable and deplorable" condition of more than
50,000 people who live within a 10-km radius of the mines.

The fact-finding team comprised doctors and two members of the
non-government organisations Birsa and Annumukti.

"Apart from the first fact-finding team, I have set up another team with
international experts on radiation and they will come with modern equipment
and appliances to measure the radiation levels at Jaduguda. They will give
us their opinion on the connection between the radiation and diseases
affecting the people who are mostly illiterate tribals," Wadehra told IANS.

He said the second fact-finding team would complete its work by December
this year and he would present its report to the Supreme Court by January
2001. "Apart from the two reports that will prove that the people are
suffering from radiation-related diseases, I have prepared a video film that
exposes the claims made by UCIL," he said. "I will submit the video along
with the second report before the court," he said.

In his petition, Wadehra had stated that UCIL was not taking steps to
insulate the population living in the vicinity of the Jaduguda uranium mines
from the hazards of untreated effluents and pollution.

The petition said uranium ore is mined and processed at Jaduguda and shipped
to the Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) at Hyderabad and is sent back again to
Jaduguda where it is re-processed. The wastes generated in the processing
and re-processing are dumped at Jaduguda. The practice of dumping wastes at
Hyderabad was stopped in 1980 after an outcry there.

A report of the environment committee of the Bihar State Legislative Council
has described the situation in Jaduguda as deplorable. "It is not only the
human beings who have been hard hit by the uranium pollution, even the
plants, fish, food, water and earth are affected by pollution caused by the
Jaduguda mines," the petition said.

Wadehra said the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) stipulated that there should
be no habitation within five kilometres of ponds where waste products from
the mining process are dumped. However, as many as seven villages having a
population of 50,000 fall within a 1.5 km radius of such ponds. "Ninety per
cent of the population living in the danger zone suffers from arthritis and
even the water drawn up by hand pumps for use has turned blue. There are no
fences or signs demarcating the restricted area or the danger zone," he
said.

However, UCIL counsel M.C.Dhingra said, "The petition has been filed on the
basis of news reports that appeared in magazines. The flora, fauna and human
beings are in no way affected (by the mining)."

In its counter affidavit, UCIL's acting chairman and managing director
Kailash Kumar Beri said the organisation has been following the regulatory
and safety procedures and operation limits prescribed by the Atomic Energy
Regulatory Board (AERB) in its mining activities at Jaduguda. He said three
decades of mining had not posed undue risk to the operating personnel and
population in the vicinity.

"Various safety measures are regularly taken and followed by UCIL for
treatment of waste and also effective monitoring is done by the health
physical unit-cum-environment survey laboratory of the Bhabha Atomic
Research Centre, Department of Atomic Energy (of the) government of India by
measurement of radioactivity in the environment and aquatic systems in and
around Jaduguda," the UCIL affidavit said.

The affidavit said that in pursuance of the direction issued by the
secretary of the department of health, medical education and social welfare
of the Bihar government, an independent committee comprising specialists was
constituted to study the situation in Jaduguda. This committee had found
that there were no complaints relating to radiation.

"The committee was of the view that in this remote area, villagers and
tribals are economically weak and in the absence of proper nutrition and
proper health care, they are suffering from certain diseases which cannot be
attributed to radiation effects," UCIL affidavit said.

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#3.