Dera Ghazi Khan: Local people PakistanThere has been a huge increase in the number of cancer and skin disease patients in Dera Ghazi Khan and surrounding areas of Pakistan.

Mining is reportedly the reason behind the worsening of the situation. Radioactive materials Dumping of untreated waste in the Kohi-Sulaiman hill areas of the country, a statement Baloch Women’s Forum (BWF) said on Saturday.

According to the BWF report titled ‘Both their denial and our silence are killing the Baloch’, locals of DG Khan have reported an alarming rise in diseases such as bone marrow problems, liver cancer, lung cancer, kidney disease, bone cancer, facial tumours and intestinal cancer.

Explaining the reason for this rise in diseases, BWF said, “The reason is clear, extraction of uranium and dumping of waste materials (mainly radioactive substances) in the Kohinoor-Sulaiman mountains. Over the years there have been several cases where young people have been affected and some of them succumbed to cancer.”

The statement pointed out that deposits of rare minerals were discovered in the 1960s, resulting in the commencement of mining operations in Baghalchar by Pakistan Atomic Energy in 1977. These minerals discovered from the region, particularly uranium-235 and U-238, are scientifically known as yellowcake.

Their denial and our silence both are killing the “Baloch”

The locals in Dera Ghazi Khan and surrounding areas are suffering from various diseases like bone marrow, liver cancer, lung cancer, kidney disease, bone cancer, facial tumor and intestinal cancer.

The report also said that the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission has banned the movement of local population from the hilly and urban areas of Dera Ghazi Khan and forcibly evicted locals from their lands.

The report said that “various projects are located in areas from where nuclear weapons are launched and 60 to 80 per cent of the people suffer from liver diseases and cancer, which is several times higher than other cities”. (ANI)