Few Hyderabadis know that they consume 0.14 to 9.50 micro gram per litre of Uranium when they drink water from the river Krishna. While the amount is within the permissible limits set by the World Health Organisation, environmentalists warn that the dissolved uranium levels in water will go up once the Uranium Corporation of India Limited takes up mining in Nagarjunasagar.
The intake may then actually exceed the permissible levels of 15 micro grams per litre fixed by the World Health Organisation. Incidentally, till a few years back the maximum permissible level for dissolved Uranium in drinking water was just two micro grams per litre, but under pressure from developed nations, the world’s premier health body revised it to 15 micro grams.
Almost 60 per cent of the drinking water needs of the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad are met by Krishna water drawn from Nagarjunasagar and the state government has plans to tap more water from the river, ultimately taking it to 80 per cent. The Health Physics Unit of the Nuclear Fuel Complex had collected a number of water samples from municipal taps and bore wells in Hyderabad and Secunderabad and analysed the water samples using laser-induced fluorimetry.
The analysis showed that the concentration of Uranium varied from below detectable levels (0.20 micro gram) to 2.50 micro gram in tap water samples. In case of ground water, the Uranium range was between 0.60 micro gram to 82 micro gram. The daily intake of Uranium through tap water for various age groups was found to vary from 0.14 to 9.50 micro gram.
Though there’s no immediate cause of concern for at least those who drink tap water, with the Central government eyeing the vast Uranium resources in the Nagarjunasagar belt, the dissolved uranium levels in drinking water may go up crossing even the revised maximum permissible limits.
According to environmentalists, Uranium intake may not pose immediate problems, but it will certainly have long-term impacts on organs like kidneys.