India News | High Uranium Content in Water at Tummalapalle Due to Natural Deposits: Govt
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The presence of uranium in water in Andhra Pradesh's Tummalapalle was due to the natural deposits of the radioactive mineral in the region, the government told Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
New Delhi, Mar 12 (PTI) The presence of uranium in water in Andhra Pradesh's Tummalapalle was due to the natural deposits of the radioactive mineral in the region, the government told Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
In a written reply in Lok Sabha, Union minister Jitendra Singh said different agencies such as the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board, IIT-Chennai, and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre carried out extensive in-depth hydro-geological investigations to examine the claims of uranium contamination in water in the region.
The agencies also examined whether the Uranium Corporation of India's (UCIL) mining project played any role in such contamination.
"The scientific investigations concluded that there is no discernible dissolved uranium plume emanating from the tailings pond and that the tailings pond is not the probable cause of ground water contamination in the nearby wells," Singh said in response to a question raised by YSR Congress Party MP Y S Avinash Reddy.
Singh said the presence of high groundwater uranium concentration in the upstream areas indicated that there is significant contamination of uranium due to natural deposits in the area, resulting in poor water quality.
There are two uranium deposits -- 2.51 lakh tonnes of in-situ uranium oxide in Tummalapalle in YSR (Kadapa) district and 2,761 tonnes of in-situ uranium oxide in Koppunuru in Palnadu (Guntur) district of Andhra Pradesh.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)