SHILLONG: An environmental economist from London School of Economics, Dr Bremley Wanbantei B Lyngdoh, has sounded alarm over high radiation at Nongbah Jynrin village in South West Khasi Hills.
The village was doing rounds in the news few weeks ago after an explosion was reported in uranium tanks located in the village. However, the state government and the KSU had differed on the reports.
Lyngdoh, who is also the founder and CEO of EcoFriend World, after inspecting the site along with KSU leaders and other individuals, said that the radioactivity in the area is very high despite the tanks being repaired recently.
He maintained that the radiation “counts per minute” (cpm) in the area was 315, which is very high and detrimental for any form of life. “With such high CPM, the place is dangerous for anyone. And if anybody stays there for two months, they would die of cancer,” he said.
Claiming that the pipes in some of the tanks in the area have started leaking, he said that he has already apprised Chief Minister Conrad Sangma of the situation.
Earlier, the authorities had maintained that there was no explosion in the concrete tank allegedly containing radioactive remnants of an exploratory uranium mining from 1993.
Nongbah Jynrin is about 55 km from Mawkyrwat and 135 km from Shillong.
The AMD had undertaken exploratory drilling of uranium deposits in South West Khasi Hills in 1993, but the move drew massive protest.
Years after the AMD stopped the work, the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) closed down its establishment in the state after not receiving lease and statutory permission for its proposed open-cast uranium mining.
The state government, in August, 2016, revoked its 2009 decision granting permission to the UCIL to undertake exploratory activities in 422 hectares’ area in South West Khasi Hills.
Meghalaya has an estimated 9.22 million tonnes of high-grade uranium ore deposits.
