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timesofindia.indiatimes.com]
MAHAL (AMRITSAR DISTRICT): Bordering a grey putrid open drain filled with untreated industrial waste, Mahal looks like any other Punjab village — yellow mustard fields, eagle-shaped water storage tanks and homes displaying photographs of young men who have migrated abroad.
But appearances can be deceptive. The village, about 4 km from Amritsar town, isn't really in the pink of health. In the government elementary school, an unusually high number of children complain of rashes and boils, housewives talk about a sharp rise in the number of miscarriages, and old men insist their hands and fingers are turning numb.
A major two-year study by PGIMER, Chandigarh, to probe the effects of industrial waste and pesticides on human health in 25 Punjab villages located near five open drains has come up with some startling findings. The study found varying degrees of DNA mutation in 65% of the blood samples taken. It also detected genetic damage in some cases.
That's not all. The drinking water in these villages has turned toxic due to a high concentration of heavy metals such as mercury, copper, cadmium, chromium and lead. In Mahal, these chemicals have seeped into the village's groundwater from the polluted drain water causing these unlikely ailments. No surprise, there's also evidence of these metals entering the food chain. According to the study, pesticides have also been detected in vegetables, even in human milk and blood samples.
For the residents of Mahal, the numbness, the miscarriages and the rashes are the price of living in a toxic hotspot.
There could be worse in store. The Principal investigator, Dr J S Thakur, outlines the possible scenario caused by genotoxicity, a condition in which lethal chemicals gather in the body leading to DNA damage. In future, more children will be born with congenital malformations — cleft lip, half or no skull, growth retardation. Pregnant women will have more sudden, "spontaneous" abortions. Instances of bone deformities, along with gastrointestinal, skin, dental and eye problems will rise. And so will cases of cancer. "There is clear evidence that irrigation of fields with highly contaminated drain water and exposure to pesticides is leading to neuro, reproductive and genotoxicity. The genetic damage may not be visible right now. But it will manifest itself in future," says Dr Thakur.
It wasn't always like this. Oldtimers in Mahal recall that before Partition, the drain was a cheery monsoon rivulet full of birds and fishes, where village boys often went for a swim. That's long changed. A recent study by the zoology department of Amritsar's Guru Nanak Dev University showed that the drain is now completely devoid of aquatic life.
The Tung Dhab drain, a subsidiary of Huddiara nala, runs parallel to Mahal's agricultural fields. Dr Thakur points out that the drinking water in these areas has turned highly toxic. People in parts of rural West Bengal have been drinking arsenic-laced ground water for decades and suffering the consequences. Arsenic can cause cancer. But the ground water in these parts of rural Punjab has many more deadly chemicals.
Residents point out that water drawn from handpumps turns yellow in no time.
