Suspected uranium extracts found in Himachal Pradesh village Hamirpur

HAMIRPUR: Suspected uranium extracts have been found during digging operations in Lambehra village in the district, an official spokesman said today.

Samples of black stones and sand, emitting foul smell and releasing inflammable gases, were collected from the spot and would be sent to Bangalore for laboratory testing, the spokesman told reporters here.

During digging operations for construction of water storage tank and safety tank at the house complex of one Ajit Singh, the suspected uranium extracts were found last night, he said.

Villagers immediately informed the district administration and the local gram panchayat, after which BDO, Hamirpur, Sunil Chandel reached the spot and stopped the digging work, he said.

The samples of black stones were given to Hamirpur Deputy Commissioner, Ashish Singhmar, who confirmed that he had received reports about the stones and would be sending them to Bangalore for laboratory testing.

It was suspected that the deposits may have Uranium content as Hamirpur district was known as a Uranium belt and the work for the digging of Uranium-based material in Kangri, Khiah and Badsar areas of the district continued for years together.

The digging work that continued for about two decades was abruptly stopped.

Earlier, mining department used to extract and send the collected sand and stones to its base offices for further investigations.