VIJAYAWADA: Viplava Racheta Sangam (Virasam) and Revolutionary Writers’ Association conducted a meeting, ‘Save Nallamala’, against uranium mining and the surveys being conducted at Nallamala forest area and in Kadapa, at the Press Club of Vijayawada on Sunday.
Executive member of Virasam and analyst Varalakshmi Virasam presented a detailed report on the ongoing uranium mining activities and recent surveys conducted in Nallamala.
“The locals residing near the forest stated that they had seen some officials collecting samples of ground and groundwater inside the forest. They did not know if those conducting the survey belonged to any government body, or they had the government’s permission to conduct these surveys,” said Virasam.
She further said that these surveys and tests were deteriorating the soil quality of Nallamala forest and if those were not stopped, would lead to infertility, causing loss to the forest cover. Virasam also discussed the agricultural and health problems faced by the citizens of the six villages, which were the most affected by these activities.
“Kotala and Kanampalli are the most affected amongst the six villages. Agriculture, which is the largest source of income of these villagers has been taken away from them due to these mining activities as the soil has become completely infertile in the past five to six years. The infertility rate has increased to 97 per cent after the mining activities began,” said the analyst. Serious depletion of groundwater levels was also observed, she said. Discussing the health issues, she stated that about six women had undergone abortion in the past two to three months, as they faced several issues during their pregnancy. Skin diseases and tumours were troubling the villagers too.