Children - Terre des Hommes

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GURIA is a dark-eyed little girl, who lies on a rope bed in the shade of her
house, waiting for her daddy to come home. She grins as she sees him, and
those dark eyes light up. Her father returns his daughter's smile as he picks her
up in his arms. But his eyes are filled with tears. Guria can't speak. Nor can she
walk. She can't feed herself. Her hands — if you can call them hands — are
bent and quiver. Her legs are useless. But her eyes reach out. Guria is seven
years old.
A stone's throw from her house, another girl lies on another bed made of rope. She is 23. She is like Guria, save for the fact
she also seems to be in pain. She gasps for breath; her look is anguished. She is fully dressed in her outdoor clothes, but
she never goes anywhere, never has been anywhere. For 23 years this has been her life.
The parents of these girls aren't sure what's caused their daughters' plight. There are around 50 other children in the village
of Jaduguda in a similar condition. ….
But the critics of the mine say it is the children who survive, for however long, who are the most damning evidence of the
damage being done — children with skeletal distortions, partially formed skulls, swollen heads, missing eyes and ears,
fused fingers, blood disorders, and brain damage.
with physical and mental deformities. 101 There are reports
of at least 50 severely deformed children living in Jaduguda.
Many of these children can neither speak nor walk and
their parents remain uncertain about what has caused these
problems. 102 The Uranium Corporation of India Limited
(UCIL) insists it is not to blame and has defended its health
and safety record in court. However, studies have found that
congenital deformities in the area are far higher than the
national average, and symptoms synonymous with health
problems caused by radioactive waste. 103
Health workers in the cities of Punjab like Bathinda and
Faridkot have also observed a sharp increase in the number
of children born with birth defects — physical and mental
deformities and cancers among children. Scientific tests
carried out in 22 villages in the district found that uranium
has contaminated milk, wheat, pulses and water. This
groundwater contamination could have been caused by
granite found in Tusham hills in Bhiwani, Haryana, as
granite contains radioactive metals like uranium. Tests also
revealed that the children had massive levels of uranium in
safe limit — which they believe to be caused by the power
stations located close by. 105
In Bellary district, Karnataka, the local population
complained of breathing problems caused by dust pollution
from the iron ore mines. Both adults and children also said
they suffered hearing problems from the noisy blasting
work.
In Sundergarh district of Orissa, where limestone and
dolomite quarrying are taking place, local communities
complained of numerous health problems. According to the
medical officer of the Community Health Centre (CHC) in
Birmitrapur, occupational health problems are significantly
higher in the area and he reported that people suffered from
respiratory illnesses, malaria, tuberculosis (TB), filaria and
other water borne diseases mainly due to mining activities.
He also stated that there is a severe shortage of medicines in
the PHC due to the high rate of illnesses, but the hospital
does not get any help from the mining companies even as a
social welfare cause. Reported cases of TB in the area have
108
In Raigarh district, Chhattisgarh, the home of coal, iron ore,
dolomite and limestone mining, the most common illnesses
reported amongst the children were malaria, diarrhea,
pneumonia, skin ailments, bronchitis, gastroenteritis,
101. mines, minerals and People, Impacts of Mining on Women’s Health in India, 15 April 2003.
102. BBC News, Mark Whitaker, Living next to India’s uranium mine, 4 May 2006.
103. India Environment Portal, Aparna Pallavi, Uranium mine waste imperils villages in Jaduguda, 14 March 2008.
104. India Environment Portal, Savvy Soumya Misha, Uranium in food, water in Bathinda, 30 April 2009.
105. The Observer, India’s generation of children crippled by uranium waste, Gethin Chamberlain, 30 August 2009.
106. Interviews with mining-affected communities, Bellary district, Karnataka, June 2009.
107. Interviews with health officials, Sundergarh district, Orissa, November 2009.
108. Data provided by the CHC, Birmitrapur, Sundergarh, Orissa, November 2009.