BATHINDA: At least 354 cases of hepatitis has been reported in the last one month in Bathinda town. The health department is at a loss to detect the cause of the problem after bacteriological and heavy metal testing found nothing wrong. Now the department has asked the  water supply and sanitation board to test the drinking water supply in the town for radioactivity to know if the water contains unsafe concentration of uranium. 

Bathinda district health officer (DHO), Dr RS Randhwan said, " As the bacteriological and heavy metal testing of the drinking water in Bathinda town found is of good and consumable quality, so we have asked the water supply and sanitation board for uranium testing as per the recommendation of state project incharge of Integrated Diseases Surveillance Programme (IDSP)." 

"Since December 14, the health department has detected 354 hepatitis cases in Bathinda town and various testing of drinking water detected nothing wrong with the water, so the department decided to go ahead with uranium testing," said Dr Deepak Bhatia, state IDSP incharge. 

Two years back the reports from a German lab highlighted the danger of high uranium content in water, linking it with high frequency of abnormalities among residents of the Southern-West Malwa region of Punjab. 

Other reports by Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC), Mumbai, and researchers at Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), Amritsar, also found unsafe concentrations of uranium and heavy metals in water samples collected from Bathinda, Faridkot, Muktsar and adjoining areas. 

As a naturally-occurring element, most people exposed to low levels of uranium through food, air and water. But additional exposure to uranium has been shown to affect bone, kidney, liver, brain, lung, intestine and the reproductive system, said Dr GS Dhillon, a former chief engineer, Research-cum-Director Irrigation and Power Punjab. "So the community public water systems are required to test water for radioactivity using an alpha radiation screen", he added. 

Uranium is a radioactive element found in nature. It can be present in soil, air, water, rocks, plants and food. Uranium breaks down (decays) very slowly into other elements including radium and radon gas. In areas where uranium is present in rocks or soil, a drinking-water well can become contaminated with uranium. This can occur when the uranium in the surrounding rock or soil dissolves into the well water. 

But in Bathinda, where two thermal plants are situated and there are reports of the fly ash of these thermal plants containing high uranium contents, so the drinking water need regular checking for uranium contents, said Dr Dhillon. 

"Amidst the reports of high uranium contents in the water in this area, we need a proper testing of the water for uranium contents also as the testing of water of bacteriological and heavy metals found nothing wrong here", said Dr Deepak Bhatia. 

A study conducted by the Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC) and Physic department of Guru Nanak Dev University last year found high uranium contents in most of the water samples in Bathinda region. These uranium values were much higher than the recommended safe limits set by various International Environmental Protection Agencies. 

The samples of ground water collected from hand pumps and tube well were analyzed. The average uranium concentration in water samples is found to vary from 9.3µg/1 to 56.9µg/1. The maximum value up to 99. 8 µg/I is observed in a sample from village Giana. The World Health Organization and UNSCEAR have recommended 15µg/I and 9µg/I respectively as the safe limit for uranium concentration in drinking water.