The PPP Punjab human rights wing alleged that uranium enrichment in Dera Ghazi Khan tribal area has caused environmental problems, promoting cancer among residents living without basic facilities and reportedly a number of people have lost their lives in the area.
Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, PPP Punjab Human Rights Wing President, Salimur Rehman Mayo said the death toll in the area had been increasing while four patients had been admitted with Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital, Lahore in very critical condition.
He said hundreds of people had been deprived of safe and clean drinking water in the areas of Bughal Churr, Dhalana and Rongarh where the 'atomic energy laboratory' was running without adopting safety measures.
Despite the fact that the government was removing most precious uranium from the area there was no potable water, no electricity, health and road facilities for the people, he added.
At least 90 percent residents have become dwarf as atomic waste is being discharged in the open. Mayo said the human rights wing had launched a survey in DG Khan and Rajanpur districts to assess the plight of people living in the area and recorded uncountable violations of rights, including damaging the environment. The human rights wing office-bearers Mughis Shahzad Buthoo and Bagum Zubaida Khokhar were also present on the occasion.