Patancheru-Bollaram pollution causing genetic deformities

HYDERABAD: Are pollutants emanating from the Patancheru-Bollaram industrial cluster causing genetic deformities in people living in close proximity to the spot? A study conducted by geneticists from the city confirms so.

The research lays bare a series of shocking cases from the area indicating irreversible genetic problems in residents, far higher than in people residing in non-industrial areas far off from the critically polluted cluster.

What sets alarm bells off is that the mutations which can cause cancer will also be passed on to future generations. The researches found increased aberrations in chromosomes — a thread like organelle in a cell carrying DNA which form genes — in samples collected from those living in close proximity to the industrial area.

Researchers from three Hyderabad-based institutions — Bhagwan Mahavir Medical Research Center (BMMRC), Mahatma Gandhi National Institute of Research and Social Action and Institute of Genetics and Hospital for Genetic Diseases — came together under the leadership of BMMRC research director Dr PP Reddy for the project and collected blood samples from 195 people living around a 5-km radius of the industrial cluster and 199 people residing away from the cluster, but of similar socioeconomic and age characteristics.

The frequency of anomalies was 8.07 per cent in people living close to the cluster and 2.61 percent in residents of non-industrial areas. While chromosomal aberrations occur naturally, they can also be triggered by external reasons such as exposure to chemicals or heavy metals. Several studies carried out across the world have linked exposure to increased pollution levels to chromosomal aberrations in people.

Patancheru-Bollaram industrial cluster is home to around 100 polluting units, about half of which are pharmaceutical entities and bulk drug companies. The rest units of cement, pesticide, dyes and dye intermediaries and distilleries firms. The cluster was declared as a ‘critically polluted area’ in 2009 by the Central Pollution Control Board banning the establishment of new industries and the moratorium has not been lifted till now due to insufficient pollution control measures. 

Frequency 5% higher

The frequency of anomalies or genetic damage was 8.07 % in people living close to the cluster and 2.61 % in residents of non-industrial areas.