Badal for tie up with DAE for water purification

by Punjabnewswire4u (Balbir)

CHANDIGARH, JULY 11

           The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr. Parkash Singh Badal, today urged the Secretary Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India (GoI) and Chairman Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Mr. RK Sinha to tie up with the state government for recommending a suitable water purification technology to improve the quality of drinking water in the state. 

            Taking part in the deliberations after detailed presentation on the different aspects of drinking water and other related issues viz. quality monitoring, purification technology, preservation of crops, fruits and vegetables through radiation technology, nuclear power generation and bio degradable waste management, the Chief Minister apprised Mr. Sinha that the state government had already decided to carry out a comprehensive program of water analysis by drawing water samples from all the villages in order to ascertain the factors responsible for contamination of drinking water from the various sources. 

Mr Badal said that the quality of ground water had been adversely impacted due to the presence of uranium and other heavy metals especially in the districts of Muktsar, Bathinda, Moga, Ferozepur and Mansa in the Malwa belt which was needed to be addressed on the priority.  The Chief Minister said that water analysis laboratory was being set up at SAS Nagar under the guidance and expertise of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) at a cost of Rs 2.25 crore to test the quality of water and suggest suitable remedy for its treatment. He asked Mr. Sinha to send a team of water experts to suggest a time tested technology for ensuring supply of safe drinking water to the entire population across the state as the state Water Supply & Sanitation department being the nodal agency has been entrusted with this onerous task.  Reiterating his commitment to ensure supply of safe potable water in every nook and corner of the state, the Chief Minister assured of all possible help and co-operation to the visiting team for early and permanent resolution of the contamination of water.

            Mr. Sinha categorically said that the usage of fertilizers had no direct link with the presence of uranium in the underground water of Punjab as the Geological studies has revealed that this part of Himalayan Region had granite rocks in the sub soil which was the perceptible cause of heavy concentration of Uranium. He also mentioned that this Uranium was also present in neighboring states of Haryana especially in Hisar belt and Himachal Pradesh to some extent.

Referring to the selection of water purification technologies Mr Sinha said it all depended on the nature of contamination adding that different technologies were available for the removal of impurities from water Uranium and other heavy metal like led, mercury and arsenic besides iron commonly found in underground water and suspended particles, Bactria and other viruses predominantly infested the canal water. Likewise Mr Sinha pointed out to tackle the menace of salinity in the water through a different technology which was also a cause a grave concern.

Mr Sinha said that the department of Atomic energy through BARC had already signed an MoU with the Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) Amritsar for the analysis of water in the state. He said the initiative jointly taken by BARC and GNDU for this common cause would further intensify with the recent decision of the state government to carry out analysis of water by testing the samples across the state.

Mr Sinha informed the Chief Minister once the BARC received the report based on these studies only then suitable technologies could be suggested for improving the quality of drinking water. He said prima facie Reverse Osmosis (RO) technology was the most suitable solution for tacking the present situation, but a final technology could only be recommended after the analysis of entire data based on these studies. He deputed Joint Secretary Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) GoI, Mr KAP Sinha as Nodal Officer to co-ordinate with the Punjab Government in this regard.

Prominent amongst those who attended the meeting included Chief Secretary Mr Rakesh Singh, Financial Commissioner Development Mr GS Sandhu, Principal Secretary Rural Development and Panchayats Mr Mandeep Singh Sandhu, Principal Secretary Local Government Mr Suresh Kumar, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr SK Sandhu, Special Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr Gaggandip Singh Brar, Principal Secretary Health and Family Welfare Mrs Vinnie Mahajan, Secretary Power Mr Anirudh Tiwari, Secretary Water Supply and Sanitation Mr Sanjay Kumar, Secretary Health and Family Welfare Mr Kamal Chaudhary, Technical Advisor to Chief Minister Lt. Gen. (Retd.) BS Dhaliwal, Vice Chancellor PAU Ludhiana Dr BS Dhillon, CMD PSPCL Mr KD Chaudhary and MD MILKFED Mr Balwinder Singh Sidhu.

Apart from these Mr Sinha was accompanied by his team members including Joint Secretary DAE Mr KAP Sinha, eminent scientist and associate director Bio-Medical Group BARC Dr SF D’souza, Fellow Nuclear Power Corporation of India Mr S Thakur, Head Food Technology Division BARC Dr AK Sharma, Head Desalination Division BARC Dr PK Tewari, Scientific Officer Environment Assessment Dr RM Tripathi, Senior Advisor to Director BARC Dr N Ramamoorthy, Head Technical Co-ordination and Technology Transfer Division BARC Mr SP Kale.