Water found polluted with
ammonium perchlorate used in rocket fuel
About 40 wells located in
Keezhmadu near a unit of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have
been found contaminated with ammonium perchlorate, a chemical used in rocket
fuel.
A team of officials from
the Pollution Control Board, district health and ground water departments
carried out an inspection following a complaint by the panchayat. A medical
officer with the primary health centre had demanded a probe into a report by a
research scientist from the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science
and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram.
The contaminated water
would affect iodine absorption, which, in turn, would affect thyroid hormone
production, said M.S. Mythili, chief environmental engineer. After the
inspection, officials collected samples of the water to be tested at a
laboratory in Thiruvananthapuram, said District Medical Officer Haseena Mohammed.
The District Collector
will visit the area on Tuesday for a first-hand analysis.
The health authorities
have directed the 176 affected families in the region not to use the water for
domestic purposes. Tanker lorries are, at present, supplying water to the
affected families.
Ms. Mythili said it was
yet to be known how the chemical had contaminated the ground water and the
extent of the contamination. The ISRO unit has, on paper, a waste disposal
system in place, which takes the chemical via tankers to a barge and disposes
it of in the sea. However, waste water on the organisation’s premises was found
to contain the chemical, she said.
Environmental activist S.
Seetharaman said the unit, spread across 50 acres, had been around for about 30
years. The unit is situated at an elevated area, while most of the affected
families are living behind the unit. It is not known for how long the ground
water had been contaminated. Though a health check-up in the area had not been
completed, about 60 to 70 people had been reported to have thyroid problems, he
said.
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