Revisiting the fundamentals of Background Radiation – Chandigarh U.T. as case study

In this paper, we aim to bring forth some basic features of background radiation as well as the rationale for carrying out a systematic and precautionary investigation for the measurement of the background radiation dosage. The area considered for the present study is U.T. Chandigarh. The term Background radiation (BR) refers to all sorts of radiations around us including the strong and highly ionizing radio-active radiation emitted from the background/environment. Background radiation could be emitted from the soil, air, water, or any other means like construction, material, paint, food, and objects of daily use, or outer space (cosmic radiation). The motivation of the present work comes from the acknowledgement of the fact that prolonged and high exposure (more than the certain prescribed permissible limits) to BR can cause severe damage to human cells causing severe health issues and can even lead to fatality. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out an investigation in this domain to make precautionary efforts to safeguard the humans from the dangerous effects of this Background (radioactive) radiation. For this, a precautionary measurement of Background radiation (BR) is needed, and regular monitoring is required in areas where the probability of its persistence is high due to any known or unknown factors. Here, in this manuscript, we have presented a study of radiation dosage in case of one of the most renowned cities (U.T. Chandigarh) of the country. The investigation includes mostly all the major and critical areas of the city (including residential areas, markets, notable medical facilities like hospitals research centre's as well as educational institutions and many other places.