Students association condemns unanium mining inside National Park

The Delhi A’chik Youth Association (DAYA) strongly condemned the proposal to conduct exploratory drilling for uranium inside the Balpakram National Park . Balpakram is a known habitat for the Asian elephant, tiger and other endangered animals such as, Hoolock Gibbon and Slow Loris, apart from being home to rare and endemic plants. It is also a sacred place of Garo people a land of the eternal death and very famous for pitcher plant and many medicinal plants called 'Dikke'. It will not only destroy the ecosystem, there are various health hazards of Uranium mining such as lung cancer, pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) and other opportunistic infection, the radiation will impact on human habitation and plagues whole populations with cancer and other mutation-related diseases. The drilling exercise, would affect the fragile biodiversity of Balpakram and would be tantamount to encroaching on the tribal rights and also violates UN norms. The Delhi A’chik Youth Association will support all the leading Civil Society organizations of Garo Hills and urge all the citizens of Meghalaya to fight for our rights, if the situation arise The DAYA would organize a world wide protest in a democratic way.

Benny A Sangma
President
DAYA
9, Aurangzeb Road
New Delhi -11