Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
India’s nuclear nightmare: The village of birth defects
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2014/09/15/indias_nuclear_nightmare_the_village_of_birth_defects.html
India’s nuclear nightmare: The village of birth defects
Indian court trying to unravel mystery of sick and disabled children, miscarriages and fatal cancers around the country's first uranium mine.
By: Raveena Aulakh Environment, Published on Mon Sep 15 2014
JADUGORA, INDIA—
<snip>
Neither Alowati nor Duniya can walk, nor can they hold anything; their limbs dangle lifelessly. Their legs are skeletal, their arms slightly stronger. Their knees and elbows are rubbed raw from crawling. They can’t speak in sentences and gesticulate loudly when they want something. They can’t feed themselves. They need help to bathe and use the toilet.
Children with birth deformities like Alowati and Duniya live on almost every street in Jadugora, a leafy town surrounded by hills and rivers in eastern India, as well as in neighbouring villages. There are young women who have had multiple miscarriages, and men and women who have died of cancer.
No one knows why.
Now, an Indian court wants to unravel the mystery of what is happening in Jadugora, the hub of India’s uranium mining industry since the late 1960s.
<snip>
“If you ask the tribals (as the indigenous people are known) who have lived there for decades, long before uranium was discovered, they will tell you that they lived healthy lives, drank from the rivers, ate fruits and vegetables ... and they never saw the inside of a hospital,” says Dias.
<snip>
The Jharkhand High Court is also looking for answers.
In March, it sent a notice to UCILasking for an explanation for the deformities, cancers and miscarriages around the Jadugora mine. It based the notice on local media reports, which included shocking pictures of children who were sick or deformed. (The demand was made by the court unilaterally, without a filing by officials or victims, in what is known as a suo moto action.)
<snip>
India’s nuclear nightmare: The village of birth defects
Indian court trying to unravel mystery of sick and disabled children, miscarriages and fatal cancers around the country's first uranium mine.
By: Raveena Aulakh Environment, Published on Mon Sep 15 2014
JADUGORA, INDIA—
<snip>
Neither Alowati nor Duniya can walk, nor can they hold anything; their limbs dangle lifelessly. Their legs are skeletal, their arms slightly stronger. Their knees and elbows are rubbed raw from crawling. They can’t speak in sentences and gesticulate loudly when they want something. They can’t feed themselves. They need help to bathe and use the toilet.
Children with birth deformities like Alowati and Duniya live on almost every street in Jadugora, a leafy town surrounded by hills and rivers in eastern India, as well as in neighbouring villages. There are young women who have had multiple miscarriages, and men and women who have died of cancer.
No one knows why.
Now, an Indian court wants to unravel the mystery of what is happening in Jadugora, the hub of India’s uranium mining industry since the late 1960s.
<snip>
“If you ask the tribals (as the indigenous people are known) who have lived there for decades, long before uranium was discovered, they will tell you that they lived healthy lives, drank from the rivers, ate fruits and vegetables ... and they never saw the inside of a hospital,” says Dias.
<snip>
The Jharkhand High Court is also looking for answers.
In March, it sent a notice to UCILasking for an explanation for the deformities, cancers and miscarriages around the Jadugora mine. It based the notice on local media reports, which included shocking pictures of children who were sick or deformed. (The demand was made by the court unilaterally, without a filing by officials or victims, in what is known as a suo moto action.)
<snip>
