Uranium waste poisons Baghalchur village, Pakistan

Uranium waste poisons Baghalchur village, Pakistan

28th April 2006

The Pakistan Supreme Court has recieved Baghalchur residents' petition to force the Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) to clean up nuclear waste in the area, where uranium for the country's nuclear programme was mined between 1978 and 2000.

Villagers' fears of nuclear waste

By Nadeem Saeed, BBC News, northern Pakistan

28th April 2006

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4954730.stm

"We are being slow-poisoned," said Nazir Ahmed Buzdar, a resident of the tribal village of Baghalchur some 400km (248 miles) north of Karachi.

He is part of a group in a legal battle with Pakistan's nuclear authorities over the dumping of toxic waste.

"Our land played an important role in making Pakistan a nuclear power but all we have got in return is poverty and poison," said Mr Buzdar.

The relevant authorities say nuclear waste material has been stored deep down in underground caves and poses no danger to the environment.

'Child deaths'

But Mr Buzdar and his colleagues cite one of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission's (PAEC) own reports which said that the waste material being dumped at Baghalchur was "active".

Pakistan's nuclear authorities were mining the area around Baghalchur between 1978 and 2000. Locals say it was the first location in the country to produce uranium for Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme.

The mining was stopped in 2000 but the underground tunnels were earmarked for storing nuclear waste.

Former chairman of the PAEC, Pervez Butt, told the BBC that the storage was perfectly safe.

"It is being done in keeping with the international standards for storing nuclear waste," he said.

In October last year, four residents of Baghalchur petitioned the local courts on the matter. The case was referred to the Supreme Court earlier this year.

The PAEC sought time to file its reply but requested the proceedings be kept in camera given the nature of the case. The court agreed and the next date of hearing is not yet known.

'Chemical sludge'

Lal Mohammed, one of the petitioners who has worked for the PAEC for eight years, says the nuclear waste being stored in his area may contaminate the environment for "centuries".

He pointed at several large and malodorous piles of what he called the toxic effluent of "yellow cake" - a raw form of mined uranium - lying openly around the place.

"Rain washes the chemicals in this sludge into the main water channels which are used both by humans and animals," he said.

Co-petitioner Naseer Shah says there has been a dramatic increase in infant mortality since the dumping of toxic waste started.

He says it has seriously affected milk producing cattle - many of which have died after contracting previously unseen diseases.

The petitioners say that the residents of Baghalchur should be assured that the dumping is not going to do them harm.

If guarantees cannot be given, they want immediate measures to cleanse Baghalchur of any contamination already caused.

Pakistan Supreme Court admits petition against atomic energy commission

30th March 2006

http://www.newkerala.com/news2.php?action=fullnews&id=33956

Islamabad: Pakistan Supreme Court has taken suo moto notice of a petition accusing the Atomic Energy Commission of dumping nuclear waste in a place in Punjab province, where mining operations were conducted in the past to get uranium for the country's nuclear programme.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry took suo moto notice of the application by Nazeer Ahmed and Maqsood Ahmed, the residents of Baghalchur area in Punjab province who claimed the nuclear waste was affecting their livestock.

"The area has been used as a dumping station for the past year and ponds have become poisonous and animals are losing hair and their hooves are swelling," they said.

The complaints said some 40 animals had died last year.

However, the bench adjourned the case after State Attorney sought time to file a reply on behalf of the Commission, 'Daily Times' reported.

The Commision had earlier claimed that uranium mining operation at Baghalchur was closed in November, 1999. It said the mining operation was closed because the reserves had been extracted.