Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission scientists said Sunday that no sign of radioactive contamination was found in haor waters.
They reached the conclusion after examining samples of water, water hyacinth and soil collected from several haors in Sunamganj.
‘Less than normal level of radiation was found in the samples tested,’ BAEC member for physical science Dilip Kumar Saha told New Age.
He said that during the tests 0.17 mSv per hour, radiation found in the samples was below the safe level ranging between 0.20 and 0.25 mSv per hour.
He said that BAEC scientists also collected samples of dead fish and ducks which would be tested at laboratory to find out whether or not deaths of aquatic life were caused by chemical contamination of haor waters.
Newspaper reports suggesting that haor waters contaminated by uranium caused deaths of fish and ducks prompted the government to send the scientists to get the haor waters tested.
‘There is nothing to worry about as no evidence was found to indicate that aquatic animals in the haors died due to exposure to uranium radiation,’ said Dilip, who led the team of 10 BAEC scientists.
A large number of fish and ducks died in select haors in seven north-eastern districts in the last week.
On April 15, newspapers reported for the first time about the mortality of aquatic life, 17 days after flashfloods inundated the haor belt.
On Sunday, another team of scientists from the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research left the capital for Sunamgaj to assess whether the people could face health hazards in the flashflood affected haor belt.
Newspapers reported that waters from India’s hilly provinces across the border might have carried uranium contaminated waters from the mining zones in India’s Meghalaya province to Bangladesh.
Scientists from the Departments of Fisheries and Livestock as well as from Dhaka University rejected the newspaper reports as fabricated and blamed shortage of dissolved oxygen in haor waters for the mortality of aquatic life.
They said oxygen shortage in haor waters occurred due to decomposition of standing rice plants on 2.5 lakh hectares of rice fields.
Besides, they said, gases released by soil following over application of fertilizers and pesticides increased acidity in the waters which in turn reduced the presence of dissolved oxygen in the haor waters.
Director general of fisheries Syed Arif Azad said that dead fish found with their open mouth indicated that their death occurred due to breathing problem.
He said bloodstains on gills of the dead fish also point to the breathing problem they faced before death.
They reached the conclusion after examining samples of water, water hyacinth and soil collected from several haors in Sunamganj.
‘Less than normal level of radiation was found in the samples tested,’ BAEC member for physical science Dilip Kumar Saha told New Age.
He said that during the tests 0.17 mSv per hour, radiation found in the samples was below the safe level ranging between 0.20 and 0.25 mSv per hour.
He said that BAEC scientists also collected samples of dead fish and ducks which would be tested at laboratory to find out whether or not deaths of aquatic life were caused by chemical contamination of haor waters.
Newspaper reports suggesting that haor waters contaminated by uranium caused deaths of fish and ducks prompted the government to send the scientists to get the haor waters tested.
‘There is nothing to worry about as no evidence was found to indicate that aquatic animals in the haors died due to exposure to uranium radiation,’ said Dilip, who led the team of 10 BAEC scientists.
A large number of fish and ducks died in select haors in seven north-eastern districts in the last week.
On April 15, newspapers reported for the first time about the mortality of aquatic life, 17 days after flashfloods inundated the haor belt.
On Sunday, another team of scientists from the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research left the capital for Sunamgaj to assess whether the people could face health hazards in the flashflood affected haor belt.
Newspapers reported that waters from India’s hilly provinces across the border might have carried uranium contaminated waters from the mining zones in India’s Meghalaya province to Bangladesh.
Scientists from the Departments of Fisheries and Livestock as well as from Dhaka University rejected the newspaper reports as fabricated and blamed shortage of dissolved oxygen in haor waters for the mortality of aquatic life.
They said oxygen shortage in haor waters occurred due to decomposition of standing rice plants on 2.5 lakh hectares of rice fields.
Besides, they said, gases released by soil following over application of fertilizers and pesticides increased acidity in the waters which in turn reduced the presence of dissolved oxygen in the haor waters.
Director general of fisheries Syed Arif Azad said that dead fish found with their open mouth indicated that their death occurred due to breathing problem.
He said bloodstains on gills of the dead fish also point to the breathing problem they faced before death.
Source: New Age
