Delhi mayor for radiation checking devices at scrap markets

Delhi mayor Kanwar Sain today said radiation detection devices should be installed at scrap markets to prevent recurrence of incidents of radioactive material making its way into junk dealer shops.
     
The Centre, Delhi government and MCD should be "vigilant" to check incidents like the Mayapuri radiation exposure which has claimed the life of a person, he told reporters here.

Panic gripped Mayapuri in west Delhi in the first week of April when 11 people were admitted to hospitals after they were exposed to radiation. A worker in a scrap shop from where radioactive Cobalt-60 was discovered died earlier this week.
     
"Radiation detection devices should be installed at scrap markets. The Central government has the authority to take a decision in this regard," Sain said.

He said MCD should ensure that all norms and regulations are followed while granting licences to dealers and that all scrap shops running without licences should be shut down.

The BJP-ruled MCD had earlier said radiation detection machines should be installed at Delhi borders so that such material cannot be brought to the capital.

The origin of the radioactive Cobalt-60 found in Mayapuri has been traced to a "Gamma Irradiator" in Delhi University's Chemistry Department where it was lying unused for the last 25 years. It was bought by a scrap dealer through an auction
on February 26 this year.