Shillong, Dec. 20: The agitation against uranium exploration and mining in the West Khasi Hills as well as some parts of the East Khasi Hills has been revived.
Several non-governmental and voluntary organisations have demanded that “all exploration work should stop once and for all”.
The Heritage and Environment Status Preservation Organisation (Hespo) and the Meghalaya People’s Human Rights Council (MPHRC) today released a booklet entitled Dangers of Uranium at the Shillong Press Club.
Hespo convenor P.B.M. Basiawmoit told newsmen that the booklet would be distributed all over the Khasi Hills to make the people aware of the dangers of uranium mining.
“We have to ensure that exploration is stopped,” he said. He was of the opinion that 10 years of exploration for uranium in Domiasiat and other areas was “enough”.
Members of the two organisations also claimed that the exploration work had shifted from Domiasiat to Mawait in West Khasi Hills and it has already fuelled apprehensions of outbreak of new diseases.
A representative from Mawait, K. Mawphud alleged that the government was “blind to the people’s health needs in these areas”.
He claimed that while there are complaints of many other diseases, the only medicines available are for treatment of malaria.
The two organisations said opposition against the plan to mine uranium would be built up in the days to come.
“We will fight tooth and nail against uranium mining in Meghalaya,” a source said.
Recently, members of a Khasi forum for civil liberties had claimed in a study that many water bodies in and around Cherrapunjee had become extremely polluted due to surveys linked to uranium exploration.