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512 signatures so far! [view all signatures] Petitie gecreëerd door: Baniaikynmaw L Shanpru We’ll keep this as informal as possible and just as simple. We belong to a group “Say ‘No!’ to Uranium mining in Meghalaya”. This group was formed after the Meghalaya State Government gave the go-ahead for the pre-developmental construction to the Uranium Corporation of India Ltd. at the proposed mining site in West Khasi hills of Meghalaya. As the name suggests, we are vehemently against the mining of this super-unstable element. We do not mean to be anti-establishment and nor de we have any political ambitions. We simply care and are very concerned with the impending doom that the future would hold for the people of Meghalaya in general and the villages of West Khasi hills in particular if the uranium is allowed to be mined. We understand the argument that states that Nuclear energy could solve our power deficiency, but we feel that the risk taken to meet that deficiency is too high. Sign the petition! Details, Impact and Progress Let us state a few real life examples to support our point-of-view: Navajoland, New Mexico In the late 1940s, mining for uranium started in the Navajo Nation in New Mexico, USA. Once the Uranium has been extracted, the waste was cast aside as tailings near mine sites. One of the waste piles grew so high that on windy days, dust from the tailings blew into the residential areas of the Navajo community contaminating the air and water supplies. The authorities assured the residents that the dust would cause no harm, but by 1078, the Department of Energy released a report that said that people living near the tailings are more prone to lung cancer and a Public Health Service report stated that one in every six uranium miner had died or would be dying of Lung cancer. Even if the tailings were to be buried radioactive pollution could leak into the surrounding water table. A 1976 Environmental Protection Agency report found radioactive contamination of drinking water on the Navajo reservation in the Grants, N.M., area, near a uranium mining and milling facility. Corresponding reports indicated that radium-bearing sediments had spread into the Colorado River basin, from which water is drawn for much of the Southwest. As a result of mining for uranium and other materials, the United States Geological Survey predicted that the water table at Crownpoint would drop 1,000 feet, and that it would return to present levels thirty to fifty years after the mining ceased. The report indicated that much of what water remained could be polluted by uranium residue. Jaduguda: A deformed existence The Indian Environment portal tells of one Gandhar Karmakar, a nine year old boy with just one eye and suffering from paralysis. Then there is Motiram who suffers from osteoporosis (general bone damage). The there is one Dunia Uraon, whose mother has suffered as many as 3 miscarriages before giving birth to him and his sister (both physically challenged). All these are residents of Mechua, which lies less than one kilometer from the UCIL mine in Jaduguda. What are tailings? Tailings are residues that are formed when uranium ore is processed to produce yellow cake. They can be in liquid or solid form. UCIL has a tailing pond in Jaduguda. After extracting uranium from the ore, the left-over, known as "uranium tailings', is mixed with water and flushed into the tailing pond through pipes. UCIL has constructed two tailing ponds on tribal-owned rice fields in Dumridih, a village in Jaduguda. Both these ponds have become saturated. The company recently constructed its third tailing pond at an adjacent village, Chatijkocha. A survey conducted by Jharkhandi Organisation Against Radiation (JOAR), a local non-governmental organisation , in 1997 found that a large number of people in Jaduguda were afflicted with cancer, various skin diseases, brain damage, kidney disorders, hypertension, deformities and fertility loss. The rate of miscarriages is also very high. Now this is the same corporation that intends to extract the uranium ore from the West Khasi Hills. With promises of the same safety measures as the ones promised to the people in and around Jaduguda. An organization with a safety record of a five year old with a real deuce ball in a hall of mirrors. This is the organization that our government asks us to trust. If what has been written so far scares you, then it has served its purpose. That is exactly what its intention is as it is being written. We know the promise of development looks like a ray of hope for the state, but the price to pay (which we eventually will) is too severe. Let us have some foresight and try to look at what’s in store for the future generation without committing a mistake. Let us learn from the mistakes of the Navajo People and the inhabitants of Jaduguda. Please please sign this petition and lend your voice to the noise that we are making to shake our politicians out of their lofty beds and listen to us for a change. Yours sincerely, Dalariti Nongpiur & Baniaikynmaw Shanpru Members Say “NO” to Uranium mining in Meghalaya. Note: This service is provided as a service to TakingITGlobal Members. This petition does not necessarily represent the views of TakingITGlobal as an organization. |
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