The Geological department sought forest clearance from the forest department to commence the survey from Bathinda, where the contaminated water is stated to be the prime cause of cancer.

The Geological department was to start the survey by drilling the area from last week, however, it was delayed as forest department objected to the process citing that it did not acquire mandatory clearance from the department, said a senior government officer.

In a letter wrote to forest department by Geological department on Tuesday sought clearance for 70m drilling for geo-environment project in Koreana village in Bathinda.

“The work would involve 70-80m drilling at each location in Punjab and no trees shall be cut down and soil will not be exposed to erosion due to this process,” the letter read.

On the request of the state Geological Programming Board to determine the cause of Uranium, Selenium and Arsenic contaminations in ground waters of Punjab, Haryana. Many cancer cases are being reported from the area. The work has tremendous societal impact and will facilitate the local population. The report of this two-year investigation will be handed over to Punjab government, the letter added.

“The very high values of Uranium and Selenium above permissible limit for human consumption have been found in the Bathinda district and drilling was initiated at Koreana village here but Punjab forest department officials stopped the process citing the forest clearance,” GS Tiwari, Deputy Director General  of Geological survey of India said in the letter.

Various studies in recent period have indicated Punjab is facing a crisis situation due to high levels of uranium, arsenic and selenium in underground water table of Punjab. The situation is especially grim in Malwa belt of Punjab including Bathinda, Ludhiana, Ferozepur, Roop Nagar and Fatehgarh sahib districts, which have high selenium contents in groundwater. Selenium Acceptable Limit (AL) for groundwater is fixed at 0.01 mg/l (ppm) by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), repots indicate.

Following this, the government decided to examine the exact cause of rising contamination in the drinking water and a two year survey from 2020-22 has been initiated in the Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Himachal  Pradesh states by the Central government.

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NEW YORK (Reuters) – A majority of New York City police officers believe the city has become a more dangerous place and feel less satisfied in their jobs, according to a survey released on Monday by the city’s largest police union.

More than 6,000 of the city’s 24,000 patrol officers responded to the online survey, which was conducted by public opinion firm McLaughlin & Associates on behalf of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association.

Nearly 90 percent of the respondents said the city had become “less safe” in the last few years since Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner William Bratton began their tenure. Ninety-six percent said the relationship between the public and the department had worsened.

“The results of this survey prove what we’ve been hearing time and time again from members over the past two years – the job is more difficult than ever, the dangers are greater, and morale is extremely low,” said Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch.

“The understaffing, inadequate training, low pay and lack of support has had a chilling effect on police officers across the city.”

Monica Klein, a spokeswoman for de Blasio, called the survey’s results “highly suspect.”

“We are experiencing historic lows in criminal activity,” she said. “Murders and shootings are at their lowest in modern history. NYPD is the most effective police force in the country thanks to our officers’ dedication and commitment to their job.”

De Blasio’s relationship with the New York City Police Department has been marked by occasional tensions since he took office in 2014.

An NYPD spokesman said the department had not yet received the survey but would review it once it was delivered.

The McLaughlin firm noted that the survey was open to all officers and did not use sampling, making it impossible to report an accurate margin of error. Approximately half of the union’s officers received emailed invitations to participate.

(Editing by Matthew Lewis)

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