A pilot study that found high levels of lead and uranium in children’s blood and groundwater samples collected from Bathinda and Rupnagar in Punjab and Chandigarh has the administration on its toes.
The study, conducted by Panjab University’s Geo-Environmental Research Laboratory in collaboration with Baba Farid NGO, Faridkot, showed alarmingly high levels of lead in at least 26.17 per cent of the blood samples tested; 39 per cent of the hair samples tested; and high uranium in all 13 of the groundwater samples taken from Bathinda.
Uranium is a radioactive heavy metal that can cause organ damage, while high levels of lead can lead to neurological damage, impacting brain development, learning, and behaviour, especially in children, besides damage to kidneys and reproductive organs.
The study analysed 149 blood samples and 137 hair samples of children in the age group 5-15 years, and 37 groundwater samples across these three locations.
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In the blood tests for lead, 26.17 per cent samples (39 out of 149) exceeded the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) safe limit of 3.5 micrograms per deciliter; which included 32.62 per cent samples (22 out of 68) exceeding the WHO limit in Bathinda; 19.35 per cent samples (12 out of 62) testing above the limit in Rupnagar; and 26.32 per cent samples (5 out of 19) exceeding the limit in Chandigarh.
The test results of hair samples, meanwhile, showed 39 per cent samples (54 out of 137) being above the safe limit of lead, which is 2 micrograms per gram.
According to the report, 79 per cent samples (15 out of 19) in Chandigarh, 39 per cent samples (24 out of 61) in Rupnagar and 26 per cent samples (15 out of 57) in Bathinda exceeded the safe limit.
When it came to groundwater testing, the report showed excessively disappointing results in Bathinda with all 19 samples exceeding the WHO and Bureau of Indian Standards limits for uranium.
In Rupnagar, only one of 13 samples exceeded the WHO limits, while in Chandigarh, none of the five samples exceeded the permissible limit.
The study has the administration scurrying to take action, with the Punjab State and UT Chandigarh Human Rights Commission describing the findings as a “grave public health crisis and a serious human rights violation”, particularly under Article 21 of the Constitution which guarantees the right to life and health.
The human rights panel also asked the principal secretary, Department of Water Supply and Sanitation, of Punjab, and the municipal commissioner of Chandigarh to verify and ensure proper installation and maintenance of RO water systems, particularly in schools, anganwadi centres, and rural households in affected areas.
The commission’s chairperson, Justice Sant Parkash, emphasised that environmental degradation impacting children’s health cannot be tolerated, and directed the chief secretaries of Punjab and Chandigarh to submit a comprehensive action plan to assess heavy metal contamination.
The plan must include identification of contamination hotspots, testing protocols, and clear timelines for remedial action, said the commission, and further asked the principal secretaries of health of Punjab and Chandigarh to ensure the immediate availability of chelation therapy drugs as an antidote for heavy metal poisoning in district hospitals.
It has also directed that a dedicated toxicology department be set up in at least one major government hospital in both Punjab and Chandigarh.
The Commission also called for urgent inspections of thermal power plants, cement factories and other industrial units in Bathinda and Rupnagar and the examination of water leaching, fly ash management and improper waste disposal practices.
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