EAS Sarma seeks fresh study on UCIL Uranium water leak

VISAKHAPATNAM:  Former Union energy secretary EAS Sarma has demanded that the state government conduct a fresh study by an independent committee into impact on groundwater and farm fields due to the reported inundation caused by uranium contaminated water at Tummalapalle tail pond in Kadapa.Addressing a virtual meeting with environmentalists and scientists, Sarma said he had been seeking steps to check the pollution caused by the UCIL for the last five years. He said people in at least five villages of the tail pond area should be relocated immediately.

The meeting also demanded that the AP Pollution Control Board be dissolved as it failed to take corrective steps to prevent pollution in the area. Due to rains in Kadapa, water is overflowing from the tail pond of the UCIL into the adjoining agricultural fields in Tummalapalli. This water contains hazardous uranium and will cause irreparable damage to the land and banana and  other plantations. 

Sarma said the groundwater is already contaminated with the leakages from the tail pond and now the surface of the land is also contaminated in some places. It will not be suitable for agriculture, living and even for grazing animals. He said relocation of the people of all the affected villages to some safe zone was the need of the hour.  The UCIL has to pay for all the damages and compensate for the losses suffered by people in the villages.  He said a case should be filed against UCIL, and the APPCB for being ineffective.

Akula Lokesh, an affected farmer, said his field with banana plantation is in 6 feet deep uranium contaminated water from the tail pond. The total area inundated is around 30 acres and it may extend depending on rain. 

Environmentalist Bolisetty Satyanarayana said he visited the villages in 2018 and found the situation pathetic. Though UCIL was a public sector unit, it was neglecting people’s welfare. K Jayashree of Human Rights Forum said all elected representatives from the region were remaining silent on the issue. A case of criminal negligence should be filed against the APPCB and district authorities, she demanded.