Save Farmer Movement Demands Nationwide Ban on Phosphatic Fertilizers to Avoid Deadly Poison Uranium

SAVE FARMER MOVEMENT

PRESS NOTE
REF. NO. 1715/PRESS /66

DATED: 17 March 2012

Immediately Ban DAP and other phosphatic fertilizers to get rid of deadly poison Uranium which causes gene damage, deadly diseases like cancer and birth defects – Demands Save Farmer Movement (Kisan Bachao Andolan)

DAP and other phosphatic fertilizers contain deadly poison 'Uranium' which persists even after 4 billion (400 crore) years – Dr Kaura

Researchers from Guru Nanak Dev University, Panjab University, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and UK have reported Uranium many times more than acceptable limits in human beings, milk and food products and ground water samples from many villages in Bhatinda, Ferozepur, Moga, Mansa, Faridkot, Sangrur, Ludhiana and Patiala districts.

Over 50% samples of ground water in Tosham area in Haryana have more than double the acceptable Uranium content and Tosham ground water was declared unfit for drinking by researchers from Guru Nanak Dev University as early as year 2002 which was ignored by the government, alleges Dr Kaura.


Hisar 17 March 2012

DAP and other phosphatic fertilizers should be banned immediately as these Uranium rich fertilizers are a danger for the survival of human race and other living beings. Demanding the ban on all kinds of phosphatic fertilizers, Senior Agriculture Scientist and National Convenor of Kisan Bachao Andolan (Save Farmer Movement) Dr Sudhir Kumar Kaura referring to a scientific report filed last month, Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai has agreed that alarmingly high content of uranium in many districts of Panjab could be due to phosphatic fertilizers with high uranium content.

According to Dr Kaura, who is a Geneticist and biotechnologist, Uranium could persist even after 4 billions years on earth and causes many deadly diseases like damage of genes, chromosome breakage, harmful mutations, variety of cancers, congenital birth defects, damage to internal organs and kidney troubles. He criticized th government for going slow on installation of Reverse Osmosis filters in villages with Uranium affected ground water in Bhatinda, Ferozepur, Moga, Mansa, Faridkot, Sangrur, Ludhiana, Amritsar and Patiala. Proper maintenance of RO systems and their efficiency to completely remove Uranium remains questionable, he added.

Informing about the various scientific proofs about presence of Uranium in environment, Dr Kaura said that research carried out by team of researchers from UK and Germany led by Dr Carin Smit two years back found Uranium up to sixty times above the medically acceptable limit in mentally handicapped children in Faridkot.

Blaming the government for its failure to take any action on research data generated by reputed scientists from India and abroad Dr Kaura alleges that even in a research of as early as year 1995, Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) Professor Dr Surinder Singh's and co-workers revealed Uranium above acceptable limit in ground water samples from Bhatinda and Amritsar districts. Later, in research done after year 2002, water, milk and food samples taken from over 20 villages of Bhatinda districts and Bhatinda city also showed alarming levels of Uranium but, the government had failed to take any timely action at that time and risked the life of villagers and consumers of agricultural products in cities, he stressed.

Dr Kaura said that the problem of Uranium is widespread referring to research on ground water samples in many villages in Ferozepur, Mansa. Faridkot, Sangrur, Ludhiana, Patiala and Moga districts of Panjab, having Uranium above the limit of 15 micrograms per litre for Uranium prescribed by World Health Organisation. Many groundwater samples from wells in Tosham area in Haryana also have many times the acceptable Uranium limit due to world's highest uranium content in granite rocks, he added.

After an emergency consultation with a panel of eminent scientists, Save Farmer Movement has sought an immediate nationwide ban on Diammonium Phosphate (DAP), Rock Phosphate, Single Super Phosphate, Triple Phosphate and other phosphatic fertilizers/formulations. In a communication to President of India, Save Farmer Movement has also demanded thorough testing of groundwater, fresh water, food, minerals and building material products like Uranium rich granites all over India and installation of effective free RO filters in all the Uranium affected area.

Dr Kaura said that time has come when instead of chemical fertilizers, zero budget scientifically proved natural fertilization methods based on animal and human excreta must be popularized to avoid build up of poisonous Uranium and other radioactive contaminants like Polonium in water and soil which are impossible to get rid off once they enters the food chain.


Sudhir Kumar Kaura
PhD Genetics, MSc Biotechnology, BSc Forestry
Convenor, Save Farmer Movement (Kisan Bachao Andolan)

10C Friends Colony, Hisar-125001, Haryana, India
Telephone: 01662 229163
Web-site: www.savefarmer.info
E-mail: farm.project.india'AT'gmail.com