Cobalt 60 in Delhi

Delhi must be the only city in the world, where one may die from radiation poisoning. A couple of weeks ago, 6 people were admitted to various hospitals in the city, suffering from what appeared to be radiation burns. All of them worked in a scrap yard in Delhi’s congested scrap market located in the Mayapuri area of West Delhi. Deepak Jain, the owner of the scrap yard where the Cobalt 60 pieces were found is in a critical state and needs a bone marrow transplant. 5 others, all his employees too are battling for their lives at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

The police is investigating the matter. No one knows how Jain managed to get his hands on the highly radioactive Cobalt 60. Scientists from India’s nuclear establishment are also investigating the antecedents of the radioactive material found lying around in a scrap yard.

One wonders what kind of security and intelligence apparatus we have where authorities have no clue about deadly radioactive material turning up in our scrapyards?  Even three weeks after the case coming to light, the law enforcement authorities are unable to figure out the provenance of the Cobalt 60. More importantly, it seems we have no effective system in place to deal with the management of hazardous waste. With such a loose system of managing deadly waste, we also run the risk of becoming the world’s favourite dumping ground for toxic materials. If this can happen in Delhi, one wonders what might be the situation in the many coastal and other small towns across the country.

This should serve as a wake-up call for the authorities. It is high time we looked at putting in place stringent norms for managing, regulating and disposing industrial and hazardous waste.

Bliss in Bangalore

Delhi has been like an oven this month. The unseasonal heat has hit everyone like the proverbial blast from hell. The met department says that the ‘heat wave’ conditions are likely to continue as the ‘western disturbances’, which bring rain to the city are conspicuous by their absence.

We had a sales conference in Bangalore this week and I was mighty relieved to be spending a few days away from the hot and dusty Delhi. We landed in Bangalore in gently falling rain. The weather was pleasant with light rain and a cool breeze. The drive to the city was refreshing, the city looked a lot more alive than Delhi.

Taj Westend is magnificent. Tucked away amongst 20 acres of greenery, one could hardly believe that such an oasis can exist right in the middle of the city. We spent two days quietly working on our business plans, while the evenings were great fun. The booze flowed freely, many brave souls amongst us sang and danced away the night (remember I work for a radio station) and yet turned up for business on time. (Being a tea-totaler I have always wondered how these guys consuming enormous amounts of liquor manage to be up and about in the morning -pretty much none the worse for wear as well!). Well, whatever their secret, we had a wonderful time…till we landed into Delhi late Friday evening with the familiar blast hitting us in the face.

]]> http://oakblue.wordpress.com/2010/04/09/cobalt-60-found-in-delhi-market/ Fri, 09 Apr 2010 13:42:21 +0000 Arhopala Bazaloides http://oakblue.wordpress.com/2010/04/09/cobalt-60-found-in-delhi-market/ NDTV has the clearest report on this incident:

An unassuming market in West Delhi turned into the location of a high-drama search-and-seize. The target: radioactive material in a scrap shop that has led to five people being hospitalized.

Half a kilometre of the market was cordoned off by the Delhi Police. Inside, specialists from the Department of Atomic Energy, armed with geiger counters to detect radiation, looked through metal scrap in dozens of shops. Sixteen hours later, the area was declared safe.

“We have isolated the metal wires which came into contact and they have all been loaded onto a truck…we are not sure where the material has come from, maybe it came from outside, we are still investigating,” said S K Malhotra, the spokesperson of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).

The potentially-contaminated items were loaded onto a carefully-shielded lead container and taken to the Narora Atomic Station where they will be further analysed to find out where it could have come from.

A week ago, Deepak Jain, who owns two metal scrap shops showed signs of radiation poisoning: dizziness, hair loss, burn and rash marks on his hands. He was admitted into hospital, and then on Thursday night, four other workers at his shop developed similar symptoms. When they arrived at a government hospital, the authorities were alerted and the Department of Atomic Energy moved in to investigate.

Cobalt-60, a radioactive compound used in hospitals where cancer patients are treated, was found in Jain’s shop.

India Today has a good follow up report:

The medical waste that caused burns to five people in the national capital’s Mayapuri industrial area contained radioactive material cobalt-60, scientists from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) ruled on Friday.

The medical waste was stored in a room at a scrap yard about five days ago. The scrap dealer and his four employees, who were living in the room, were exposed to radiation from the material. They were hospitalised on Thursday night and the condition of one of them was reported critical.

After almost 12 hours of investigation, scientists managed to isolate and seal all the radioactive substance and other materials from the junk. The isolated radioactive materials will now be sent to Narora Atomic Power Station for further examination.

Cobalt-60 is used for treatment of cancer in some hospitals and the experts are now trying to assess the extent of radiation that may have spread in the area. The scrap yard is in a congested locality and there is a fear that the cobalt-60 leak may have affected more people.

May 5

Almost a month on, this report from BBC:

India’s atomic energy body says all the radioactive material present in an irradiation machine, sold as scrap by Delhi University, is now accounted for.

The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) said the radioactive material was sent to an atomic facility for safe storage and has now been inspected.

Last month, cobalt-60 had leaked from the machine while it was being dismantled in Delhi’s Mayapuri area.

Last Monday, a scrap metal worker died after dismantling the machine.

Search teams later found cobalt-60 in several shops in the area.

Police say that others exposed to radiation are still critically ill in hospital.