Question : Uranium Contamination of Ground Water

(a) whether the Government is aware about reports of widespread Uranium contamination found in India’s ground water;
(b) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
(c) whether the Government considers Uranium contaminated drinking water harmful for human health;
(d) if so, the details thereof;
(e) whether the Government plans to set permissible levels of Uranium in drinking water under Bureau of Indian Standards; and
(f) if so, the time by which these are likely to be set up and if not, the reasons therefor?

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI & SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT

(SHRI RATTAN LAL KATARIA)

(a) to (f) There is prevalence of Uranium concentration above 30 micro-gram per litre (WHO provisional guidelines) in some of the localized pockets of few States/UTs in the country. A report brought out by Duke University, USA in association with Central Ground Water Board and State Ground Water departments states that Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Jammu & Kashmir have localised occurrence of Uranium concentration.

As per information received from Department of Atomic Energy, elevated uranium level in drinking water may affect human health. Health studies carried out elsewhere in the world suggest that elevated uranium level in drinking water may be associated with kidney toxicity. Further, several studies focusing on health effects have been carried out in Finland among people who use their drilled wells as sources of drinking water having uranium concentrations in the range 5.6 – 3410 ppb. However, no clear clinical symptoms have been observed among the exposed population.

The Indian Standard IS 10500: 2012 for Drinking Water specification has specified the maximum acceptable limits for radioactive residues as alpha and beta emitters, values in excess of which render the water not suitable. These requirements take into account all radioactive elements including uranium. No individual radioactive elements have been specifically identified.

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