Close to the India-Pakistan border near Rajasthan’s Pokhran lies a village named Khartoli where residents are slowly succumbing to cancer, perhaps paying the price for the two nuclear tests conducted in its vicinity. However, none of the officials concerned have so far paid attention to their health travails.
India’s first nuclear test was conducted under then PrimeMinister Indira Gandhi in 1974 at a stretch just 10 km from Khartoli. In 1998,the country conducted its second nuclear under Prime Minister Atal BihariVajpayee at a site barely 3 km from the village.
Sanwaldan Ratnoo, a resident of Pokhran, confirmed thatcancer cases in Khartoli multiplied after the nuclear tests. However, thegovernments of the time never took up the issue and even the 2018 Assemblyelections passed off without anyone lending their ear to the pain and trauma ofthe people, he said.
According to Ratnoo, out of the 4,000 odd residents in thevillage, as many as 80 to 100 are cancer patients.
“Nuclear tests definitely strengthened India’s positionin the world. However, we felt bad for the fact that no steps were taken toensure that the villages in the vicinity of the test sites didn’t face anyhealth risk.
“Deformity cases have gone up in Khartoli and they canbe noticed even in new-born calves. The growth of our kids has beenaffected,” he added.
Nathuram Vishnoi, sarpanch of Khartoli village, said:”We are surprised that the site which brought national and internationalfame to Pokhran has been left ignored. We have seen our kids die a silentdeath, but nobody has leant an ear to their cries.”
“We have approached many government officials, but theyjust don’t want to listen to us. For decades we have been trying to draw theirattention, but all our efforts went in vain.
“We have submitted memorandums to many people,including Chief Ministers and other politicians, but nothing has happened.Surprisingly, they (politicians) come here begging for votes but fail to noticeour kids who have turned blind or are suffering from other deformities,”Vishnoi added.
Former IPS officer Pankaj Choudhary, who is contesting fromthe Barmer-Jaisalmer Lok Sabha seat on a BSP ticket, said: “Many peoplebrought the issue of ‘radiation threat’ to my notice when I was campaigning. Ihave promised to look into the matter. However, I am shocked that none of theprevious governments showed any interest in resolving the crisis.”
When IANS contacted Bhupendra Kumar, the Chief MedicalOfficer of Jaisalmer, he expressed his ignorance about the presence of any suchvillage under his jurisdiction.
“I just joined this work station a month back and havenot heard about this issue yet,” he said.
Pradeep Gaur, the head of radiology at the SN MedicalCollege in Jodhpur, said: “I remember a professor taking up this issue andsubmitting a paper on it many years back. But that was a long time ago andhence I can’t recollect much on the matter.”
Asked if any research has been done on this issue, heexpressed his inability to recall anything concrete.
Dilip Singh, a professor in the same institute, said:”I have a feeble memory of the high court ordering a research on thissubject sometime ago. But I am not sure if any paper has been submitted in thismatter.”