Pak underground water suffering from uranium contamination: US expert

Karachi, July 16 : Pakistan, like the US and Mexico, could also be suffering from uranium contamination of its underground water resources because of industrial units, said an US expert.

Dr Philip C. Goodell, a Geologist and Professor at the Texas University, said: "Uranium contamination of underground water is a major issue in the state of Texas and Mexico, where I have worked, and perhaps it is also present in Pakistan. The issue needs to be investigated fast."

"Uranium contamination can also be present in the underground water in Pakistan. The government must initiate a program to find out the actual situation," he said.

Goodell was giving a lecture on the scope of geology in developed and developing countries at the Department of Geology, University of Karachi (KU) on Tuesday.

He said that governments of developing countries must come up with new laws and enforce existing ones for the reduction of uranium and other contaminations in their water. Industrial units change the underground soil pattern, contaminating the water found underground.

Arsenic and uranium-contaminations are a common result of increasing numbers of industrial units; the Daily Times quoted Goodell, as saying.

Talking about the effects of these chemicals, he said that arsenic restricts growth in children, while uranium produces Devastating radioactive radiations.

ANI