Punjab State with cancer belt has more to worry about: Expert

Punjab State with cancer belt has more to worry about: Expert 

Reproductive toxicity, DNA damage causes for concern too
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, August 4
Not only cancer but reproductive toxicity and DNA damage too are causes for concern in Punjab.

It is high time the state government rose from its slumber to take steps towards addressing these two issues too, said epidemiologist Dr Amar Singh Azad from Patiala, who has been working in public domain raising environment and health issues.

At Bathinda to participate in a seminar on environmental toxicity held at the Adesh Univeristy, Dr Azad said the semen count in Punjab's men has gone down by 40 per cent.

He said the state's health department and the Punjab Agriculture University were in denial mode over the harmful effects of pesticides, which is creating many hurdles in mapping and treating the cancer cases.

"The state government is providing Rs 1.5 lakh for treatment of a cancer patient, which is neither enough nor timely. Cancer is a horror. As soon as one is diagnosed with cancer, the patients' family does not await funds and get him/her treatment. Rs 1.5 lakh are not even sufficient to foot the medical bills of a patient. It would be better if the government provides free treatment to cancer patients," he said.

He demanded that advanced cancer treatment should be made available in the public sector also.

Talking about uranium being pointed as one of the factors responsible for the dreaded disease, he said the earth spewing out carcinogenic uranium was the result of deep tubewells that have gone beyond the permissible limits, to meet the drinking water and irrigation requirements of the Malwa region.

"Nature has always left sub-soil water for human consumption. Deep drilling, which contains heavy metals, lead to such kind of problems. Today, tubewells have boring as deep as 1,200 feet," he said.

Dr Amar Singh Azad added that not only uranium, but cocktail of toxins, including banned pesticides, were wreaking havoc.