Radiation-shielding bricks stolen from DU lab, security still an issue

A departmental committee is yet to suggest ways to strengthen lab security, two months after the Delhi University’s Physics Department reported theft of radiation-shielding lead bricks.

Over 20 lead bricks, weighing 4 kg each, were stolen from the laboratory, according to university sources. Days after the incident, the department had rushed into action and constituted an internal committee.

Amitabha Mukherjee, who heads the varsity’s Physics Department, claims that unregulated entry to the department makes it difficult for them to enforce security measures.

“We can’t block the access because it will militate against the idea of a university, which is supposed to be a free space for learning,” he said.

“A committee, comprising of department teachers, has been set up to suggest security measures,” Mukherjee said. “It was constituted soon after the incident.”

An FIR was lodged in the lead brick theft, but police have had no success in finding clues.

Physics and Chemistry departments are housed in the same facility, making it difficult for anyone of them to have a separate security arrangement. The two departments combined have over 1,000 students and dozens of staff.

Mukherjee said they are in the process of getting CCTV cameras installed on the premises. Earlier, DU had sent a circular in this regard to all its affiliated colleges and departments.

Both the Physics and Chemistry labs handle radioactive substances. In 2010, the radioactive Cobalt-60, which was disposed off by the Chemistry Department, had found its way to a scrap dealer in west Delhi’s Mayapuri area. The radiation leak had then led to death of one person, while 11 people were hospitalised.

Following the 2010 incident, the university had appointed a radiological safety officer. The departments follows Atomic Energy Regulatory Board guidelines while acquiring and handling radioactive substances, said Mukherjee.