Dangerously high uranium levels - three to four times the World Health Organization's 15 microgram per litre limit and higher even than the government's limit of 30 micrograms per litre - have been recorded in drinking water sources across at least six Chhattisgarh districts, significantly increasing the risk of cancers and pulmonary conditions, as well as skin and kidney diseases, in these areas.
In 2017 the WHO suggested uranium in drinking water should not exceed 15 micrograms per litre, but acknowledged "there are uncertainties (if) concentrations above this would be of concern". The global health body also said some countries - like India - had doubled that permissible limit.
In June a Bhabha Atomic Research Centre study suggested even 60 micrograms per litre is safe
However, tests of drinking water samples from Chhattisgarh's Durg, Rajnandgaon, Kanker, Bemetara, Balod, and Kawardha found uranium levels in excess of 100 micrograms per litre; one sample from a village in Balod had as much 130 micrograms per litre and another from Kanker had 106 micrograms per litre. Across the six districts the average reading was 86 to 105 micrograms of uranium per litre.
The first samples tested were from a 25-year-old borewell in Balod's Devtarai village.
The results were double-checked by the state's Public Health Emergency Department.
"There is no other source of water in the village... one day we came to know that research was done and some students took water from here, in which uranium was found," Daneshwar Sinha, the village chief, said, "... after that we ran to the PHE Department and it was tested once again."
The village has now opened a second bore, but it is unclear if the source of that water is different from the first or if uranium levels in the water from the new well are within permissible limits.
After the Devtarai red flag samples from all six districts were sent to the Bhilai Institute of Technology in Durg and the readings - between 86 and 105 micrograms of uranium per litre - were confirmed by Dr Santosh Kumar Saar, the Chair of the university's Chemistry Department.
BIT scientists took samples from six square kilometre range in each of the six districts.
Uranium In Groundwater In India
Uranium in groundwater is a long-standing point of concern for health officials; in January last year a report by the Central Groundwater Board said it had crossed permissible limits in 12 states, including Punjab and Haryana; the two states produce over half of the country's wheat supply.
Samples from 13 other states had uranium within set limits; those from Kerala had none.
In August 2022, nine districts of Bihar reported similarly high levels of uranium in water.
READ | High Volume Of Uranium In Bihar Groundwater Worries Authorities
Ashok Kumar Ghosh, the then Chairman of the State Pollution Control Board, told news agency PTI, "Uranium contamination in groundwater is a matter of serious concern, as it is hazardous to the health of those exposed. High exposure may cause bone toxicity and impaired renal function and cancer".
A few months earlier Karnataka had also reported high uranium levels in water.
Solution To Uranium Contamination?
Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh, faced with the uranium-in-water problem, may also have a solution.
A study by three BIT scientists, led by Poonam Deshmukh, indicates uranium can be filtered by using the bark of a gooseberry (amla) tree. Ms Deshmukh published her findings in the Groundwater for Sustainable Development in 2021 and the method has been patented but not implemented yet.
"We thought that if there is concentration of uranium in water... there should also be remedial techniques. We developed 'bio-adjusting' technique (and) we got the best result with amla bark."
Large-scale implementation of such filtering techniques must be a point of action, given Chhattisgarh is home to four known deposits of 100 per cent grade uranium - three of which are Rajnandgaon district, where contaminated water was found - according to the Uranium Corporation of India.
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