Groundwater in Punjab's cotton belt responsible for cancer

Bathinda, June 4 (UNI) Indiscriminate use of insecticides and pesticides has been largely attributed to the increasing cases of cancer in the cotton belt of Punjab, but studies over a period of time have revealed the presence of high quantaties of certain metals/chemicals in the region which could have aggravated the problems.

The studies conducted by a team of experts from the Centre of Advanced Study of the Geology department of Panjab University, Chandigarh found that the contents of uranium, lead, chromium, nickel, flouride, sulphate, calcium and magnesium were found above the permissible limits. The interaction of groundwater with soils formed by the weathering of high heat producing granites and with evaporities including foetid limestone/dolomite was responsible for the high contents of radon and other elements in the ground water, the studies showed.

''Indiscriminate use of pesticides and the air and water pollution caused by the effluents of the Bathinda thermal plant alongwith the high quantaties of uranium, lead, chromium etc, all combined together to affect the groundwater which was used in the villages, leading to an increase in the cancer cases'', Mr Naresh Kochhar a member of the Panjab University team said when contacted.

According to the study the chemical quantity of groundwater including radon activity in the region coupled with effect of pesticides may have been responsible for the cancer incidence. The study was largely confined to Jajjal and Giana villages of the Talwandi Sabo block where the maximum number of cancer patients in the region have been reported.

According to the study about 70 odd persons have died in the Talwandi Sabo block because of cancer of the different body parts since the late seventies. The area falls in the cotton belt and there is a widespread use of pesticides such as ammonium phosphate, cyclothrein and fertilizers such as urea, superphosphate and NPK.

These fertilisers also contribute lead, nickel etc to the groundwater and soil which further increases the contents of these elements in the soil.

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