Mayapuri radiation: Court notice to Delhi University

NEW DELHI - The Delhi High Court Friday issued notice to the Delhi University on a plea filed by two people seeking compensation after being exposed to radiation from Cobalt 60 isotopes in a Mayapuri scrap market in May. The material was found to have been auctioned by the varsity.

Justice S. Murlidhar, while issuing notice, asked the Delhi University to file a reply by Aug 30.

The court also directed the Director General of Health Services to constitute a medical board for medical evaluation of the two patients, Ajay Jain, 40, and Deepak Jain, 32, who suffered serious burn injuries after being exposed to radiation.

“This court directs that a medical evaluation of these petitioners be done by a panel of expert medical personnel who will also recommend the appropriate treatment protocol in the short and long term and also the hospital or institution in the country so that the best possible treatment can be made available to them,” said Justice Muralidhar.

The court sought a report by the medical board by Aug 25. The board has to be constituted within two weeks and it will have not less than five medical experts.

In May this year, following an exposure to the radioactive material, Jains had developed symptoms of hair loss, blackening of the skin of arms and tongue, nausea, fever, extreme pain and alarming drop in blood platelet count.

The two were initially treated at private hospitals in the city but were later transferred to a army hospital where they were detected to have leucopenia (low white cells), thrombocytopenia (low platelet counts) with bone marrow showing below normal cellularity (hypocellular).

–Indo Asian News Service