We have been listening/reading about the accident in Mayapuri, Delhi in which at least two labourers have lost life because of radiation exposure. A few days back it was told that the radiation source was Cobalt 60, which found its way to the scrap dealer's shop. Initially, it was surmised that the scrap might have been imported, but yesterday it was reported that its source was University of Delhi's Department of Chemistry,

I was indeed intrigued, because i know no one in the deptt who does research in Radiation Chemistry. So, i did a bit of Net research. Within a few minutes, i could guess the name of The Faculty member! It is Professor B. K. Sharma, who was a faculty member in Chem Department, some forty years ago, when i had joined as an undergraduate student. I could trace out a research paper published in 1985 with a coworker from Bareilly.

So, how did the radiation source find its way to the scrap market? Obviously Professor Sharma must have retired long ago (possibly he might have passed away too!). So the equipment he procured at that time, must have been lying discarde in some attic of the department all these years. Off late, there has been a drive to clean up to vacate some useful working space in the University. The protocol for that, i have come to know recently, is to appoint a committee of Faculty members to review the nature of the items to be disposed off and the manner to be used. In the present case, i won't be very surprised if no committee member cared to look through the stock register carefully, or if they did cared to find out the likely environmental threat, if an equipment like a Gamma Irradiator (which has Cobalt 60 in it) found its way to the scrap market, because not every chemistry faculty member can be expected to know about each such equipment. So, the procedure must have been followed in a routine manner.

Now that a serious accident has happened, what corrective steps the University authorities can take?

I have a few suggestions:

1. The potential risks for all research equipment being procured by the University must be documented at the time of its procurement, so that whenever it needs to be disposed off, the people involved can at least be aware of them.

2. Whenever a faculty member retires, he must be required to submit a report about each and every equipment procured by him for his laboratory, with a word of caution!!

From the news reports published today in newspapers it appears that it is not an isolated incident Many science departments have been adopting a callous approach towards discarding nuclear waste. That calls for serius concern. All faculty members conducting any research activity using hazardous material should be required to give an undertaking that they would take all care for the disposal of waste, whether it we radioactive material or environmentally hazardous chemical substances. If the University does not initiate such steps it would become totally socially irresponsible

The University must learn a lesson from this tragic incident, if it wants its name in annals to go down as a socially responsible university.

Faculty members of various science departments choose the subject of their research activity, based on the fashion of the day; that gives them more opportunities for career advancement through frequent jaunts to western countries. It would be rare if any of them would be concerned about the environmental impact of their research activity. I remember that during by Ph.D. research work at IITK i used to dump into the drain many liters of methanol/chloroform almost daily for many months. I never cared for the impact of these toxic chemicals whether on the environment or my health. Similarly I have lately witnessed how we trash a number of computers that may not be very old, and hence still usable, only because we can get grants for purchasing brand new models. An activity that generates a lots of e-waste, about which no one is concerned a bit. Can't these computers be recycled? Can't some people from the academic community think of some innovative ideas that would minimize such waste?

Definitely there is a need to give some serious thought on these issues within the science community of the University

Off late the media is live with the comments of a faculty member in the Chemistry department. This gentlemen had a dubious record. So far, i can recollect he was appointed because of his closeness to a OBC cabinet minister. Later he even succeeded in getting a plum position of the VC of a university in UP. His comments are at best political in nature!

Our present VC can hardly be held responsible for this incident! At best he might be responsible for the undue haste in initiating the write-off procedure. But then we must remember that he had to ensure working space for several faculty members that had to be added to the department because of the recent OBC reservation directive of the Central Government. He could do little else then to get some space vacated that has been lying waste within the department. The faculty members who were the members of the write-off committee are the real culprits. They did not carry out the responsibility entrusted to them in a responsible manner

In my first post I had written...



Today, after reading the newspaper, i need to correct myself, Dr. Sharma is very much alive, I wish him a longer happy life:




I also came to know the names of the faculty members, who were the members of the write-off committee, and hence the persons who should be held responsible, because they did not do their duties properly. These include Prof. R. C. Rastogi, a computational chemist, about two years senior to myself, Professor. N. K. Kaushik, an inorganic chemist, who joined the Chemistry epartment while I was an undergraduate student, and the Head of the Department, Professor V. S. Parmar and Prof. Rup Lal a zoologist.

One cannot expect any responsible behavior from Prof. Rastogi, and Prof. Kaushik, they are on the verge of retirement and hence took this unlucrative and unattractive responsibility only it did not appear to be very demanding. I have known Rastogi ever since he was a postgraduate student, he used to study in the Hans Raj College library till late in night, while i was also there. The department preferred him over me, when he was appointed in the Chem Department in 1987, mainly because he was a student of the Head of the Department, But then that is hardly an aberration, that has been rampant in Indian society, because people are appointed in responsible positions primarily due to the compulsions faced by the selection committee. The case gets public only after it is found how irresponsible they are, say the case of the officer who was a spy pin the Indian High Commission in Pakistan, or the Cabinet Minister for Telecom, who gave away the 2G spectrum for a song!!!

A clear cut case of Privileges vs Responsibilities; we all want to enjoy the privileges that a powerful post provides, but are often found shirking from the social responsibilities that are expected from us in return!!

In my opinion the members of the write-off committee responsible for this very irresponsible write off must be penalised in an exemplary fashion, so that members of such committees in future do not discharge their duties in such an irresponsible manner, In the present case they were all senior faculty members nearing their retirement, so they discharged their responsibility in a very casual manner leading to lot of suffrage to several persons. But the tragedy can be much more serious, as several Co-60 pencils are still reported to be missing; just imagine the consequences if they fall in the hand of some kind of terrorists

That appears to be quite reasonable. The same sentiment has been echoed in the editorial of TOI today:

Here's yet another interesting news report about the incident published in THE HINDU newspaper:

I really wonder if the knowledge about gamma rays and Cobalt 60 is commonplace for a chemistry teacher/student! I did a bit of search on the Net and found the following information, which may be useful for the student visitors of Vimarsh:]


For some info about the equipment that was in the Chemistry Department of DU, and led to the tragic incident, i would recommend the document available through the following link:

http://www-naweb.iaea.org/napc/iachem/Brochgammairradd.pdf

Here's the latest news:


Source: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/95099/India/Origin+of+Cobalt-60+traced+to+Delhi+University.html

That's indeed very interesting! No HOD would dare to take any step without the prior consent of the VC! and considering that the equipment was lying in the department for more then 25 years, and no HOD cared to proceed to dispose it of, obviously the VC can be expected to know about it, though he may be ill informed about the risks of selling te radiator as scrap. But the as is usually the case no HOD would dare to hold an opinion different from the diktat of the VC

Nevertheless i would expect that senior science teachers holding responsible positions in University departments, would act in a more responsible manner instead of like a sycophant petty clerk, who is only too fearful for the position he holds in the University bureaucracy, as it appears to be the case in the case under discussion here. But, then teachers apparently teach their students only lessons of sycophancy in India, not to hold correct opinions boldly. As reported above, Professor Parmar, had opted to retire, then what were the compulsions for him to take such irresponsible decisions (except perhaps a favorable recommendation for a plum position abroad after he retires)

Today, while leaving the Academic Research Center Building where CSEC and hence my office is located, i noticed a clipping from The Pioneer Newspaper dated 28 May 2010 on the ILLL notice board. It reported that the Vice Chancellor has constituted a committee, which includes Professor Ashok Bakshi, who is at present the HOD of the Chem Deptt to frame the guidelines for conduct of experiments in the DU science labs. Soon all science students would be provided a booklet detailing these guidelines.

In the meantime, there is a relenless atteck on the DO administration for the accident, For example the following Editorial that appeared in THE HINDU a couple of days ago:



Source: http://beta.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/article421719.ece

Here is the latest news!!!

DU sole violator of radioactive norms: AERB