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Environment
Poisoned Lives:
Hyderabad's Stillborn Future
Beginning this
week, in a series of articles, M H
Ahsan exposes corporate crimes against people. In the first part, he
tells how a massive public health disaster is unraveling on the
outskirts of Hyderabad two decades after a clutch of pharmaceutical
companies dumped toxic waste into freshwater lakes and fertile
agricultural land.
What would you say to
a 75-year-old grandmother who wants to die because she can't live with
the smell of the putrid wound bursting out of her breast? Mahmound
Nissa's grandson, Syed Akbar, says doctors at the Triveni Madanlal
hospital in Hyderabad have diagnosed it as breast cancer. Many years ago
a small, itchy boil appeared on her breast. "We had 5 acres of paddy
field. During harvest, the paddy would release an orange-colored dust.
It would then itch all over the body. Later I found that my eyes and
face would become red in the morning," says Nissa, as her
cataract-ridden eyes desperately rolled, latching on to a sudden rush of
memories.
Today, like her, the land she used to till lays waste. Pointing to her
wound she said, "Yeh to shaitan ka namuna ban gaya (This has become the
symbol of devil)". Staying in a mud tenement in Khazipally village on
the outskirts of Hyderabad, Nissa's weekly medical bill is Rs 231. "We
somehow put together the fund because if her wound is not washed every
day and bandaged, it becomes painful and smelly," Akbar says. "Nobody
can come anywhere near me, if I don't wash the wound," concurs Nissa.
Nissa is a victim of a
corporate crime that has imperiled the lives of hundreds of villagers
living around Hyderabad's six industrial estates, India's second largest
bulk drugs and pharmaceutical manufacturing hub. The cocktail of poisons
released by these industrial estates have wrung life out of fertile
vegetable farms, killed fetuses in the womb and made children mentally
retarded. Married women cannot conceive, pregnant women deliver
stillborn children and hundreds of cattle die after drinking highly
polluted waste water discharged from the industries. The villages
surrounding the industrial estates have a high rate of infant mortality.
"I have seen a blue baby, a blind child, a girl disabled by congenital
anomalies, and a young lady losing 11 pregnancies and her capacity to
have children. Eighty percent of the people here suffer from
multi-toxics syndrome. The medical fraternity has no cure and can't stop
these toxics from entering into the womb of mother," Dr Allani Kishan
Rao of Patancheru Anti-Pollution Committee (PAPC).
Rao mobilized the villagers to campaign for immediate remediation of the
chemical crisis in Patancheru. Having treated hundreds of patients
suffering from toxic poisoning in his Yashodhara Hospital, Rao says,
"Good corporate governance means using clean manufacturing technologies
and here it simply means ensuring safe waste disposal and treatment of
toxic effluents." However, far from caring for the communities around
industrial estates, pharma companies in mint-fresh globalized India
argue that nothing should hinder the country's ability to produce
low-cost medicines and bulk drugs. "We are educating our people
(companies) to be society-friendly. We have arrested future pollution
and believe that nature will purify the environment over a period of
time," says M. Narayana Reddy, senior vice-president of the Bulk Drug
Manufacturers Association.
Vithal Reddy, an activist of the PAPC says, "Our future has been stolen
by the most abominable corporate crime one can think of. For more than
two decades the industries were allowed to dump toxic effluents into
fresh water streams and lakes. Today all our sparkling lakes are poison
ponds." Companies in this region dump toxic waste into the Nakkavagu
stream, which flows into Manjira River, a major tributary of Godavari.
Amid the granite terrain, the Nakkavagu, an age-old channel composed of
clay, silt and sand is the lifeline of this region because water easily
percolates down to the alluvial aquifer. A few decades ago this stream
was clean enough to irrigate farmland. Toxic effluents discharged into
the aquifer and surface water streams have destroyed 3,000 acres of
fertile land when farmers used this water for irrigation. "Every year we
plant crops and vegetables, but the borewell water is so toxic that it
has made our 5-acre land heavy with chemicals. Nothing survives in this
land," says Narsamma, a farmer.
The Nakkavagu today is highly contaminated and carry some of the most
dangerous organic chemicals banned in most parts of the world like
dieldrin and aldrin. Chemicals seeping through the Nakkavagu have made
groundwater undrinkable because of a high level of contamination at a
depth of 140 feet. This in turn is the source for a variety of
debilitating diseases afflicting this region. According to a study
conducted by the National Geophysical Research Institute, the morbidity
rate in the area is a shocking 80 percent compared with the national
average of 10 percent. The Supreme Court monitoring committee on
hazardous wastes after a visit to Hyderabad in October, 2004, said in
its report, "The destruction of underground aquifers on which ordinary
villagers are dependent for their life and livelihood has not at all
pinched the conscience of the state."
Nobody in the government seems worried about the unusually high mental
retardation cases among children in villages around the industrial
estates adjoining Hyderabad. Like Sankapally Kavita, a 13-year-old girl
of Pocharam village. Her parents and neighbors aver that a few years
after her birth she started showing signs of mental retardation.
Villagers in Pocharam say their voices against toxic contamination of
their bodies make no difference. But surely the government needs to know
why, for instance, Chaikati Venkaiah, 22, a shepherd, is suffering from
a debilitating nervous system disorder. "I used to wash buffaloes in the
Nakkavagu and over many years chemicals got into my body. See what I
have become, hollow from inside and unable to stand on my feet," says
Venkaiah.
Anjamanni of Gandigudam village underwent 11 traumatic miscarriages by
the time she was 25 years old. She still doesn't have a child. Women in
village after village in this region complain about how their wombs just
don't hold on to foetuses. Dr Rao says the government must institute an
inquiry to find out how and why hundreds of women have lost
child-bearing capacity because of dumping of toxic effluents.
Twenty-year-old Padma Kadigala of Bhaythole village, who has already had
two miscarriages, says life has drained out of her after she was told
that she would be never be able to become a mother. She says doctors
have told her that her uterus is weak and cannot hold a fetus. "In
Bhaythole there are 22 such women. This is not a freak occurrence.
Things have gone terribly wrong here and this is not the development
model that the government should promote," says Dr Rao.
Hyderabad's polluting industrial estates will soon pose grave hazards to
the freshwater reservoirs of the city. According to the Central Research
Institute for Dry Land Agriculture, the Manjira River and Nizam Sagar,
located in the northwest of the city, are in grave danger of
contamination by pollutants from the Guddapotaram-Bolaram-Patancheru
industrial axis, as they are located within 15km of the freshwater
source. In fact, a report released last October, 'State of Community
Health at Medak District' — a collaborative effort of Greenpeace India,
Lokmanya Tilak Medical College and Occupational Health and Safety Centre
(Mumbai); Community Health Cell, St John's Medical College and nimhans
(Bangalore) — reveal that on the outskirts of Hyderabad clinically
confirmed cancer is 11 times higher and the prevalence of heart diseases
16 times more. Only a full-scale medical and public health investigation
carried out on a war footing will reveal the exact extent of the damage
done by the corporate crimes.
The Island of Hop
 The Chinese fishing
nets are back on the picturesque river island of Eloor carved out by
Periyar River as it gently glides and loops through a verdant land of
swaying coconut trees and lilting paddy fields. VI Francis recreates an
ancient tradition every day a little after dusk, like many others on
this island near Kochi, when he mounts the platform jutting out into the
river. He slowly lowers the huge net into the Periyar and prepares for
the night vigil. He talks about a time when the Periyar was abundant in
fish. A lunch of meen varuthatu and meen vattichathu (fried fish and
fish curry) was only a catch away. "Many years ago these nets became
redundant because all the fish in the river died, poisoned by the
discharge of industrial wastes. This happened after our agricultural
land and wells became contaminated. This year we discovered that there
is hope in community action. New fish shoals have come into the river,"
says Francis.
The remarkable faith of the Eloor islanders in community action has come
as a pleasant surprise to VJ Jose, who many years ago chucked his job as
a salesman to begin a fight of a lifetime. "When my father bequeathed
his land and house to me, he also gave me clean air and water. The
Periyar flows along my house and I want to make sure that I bequeath the
same to my children," he says. When Jose began his struggle, most people
in Eloor treated him like an outcaste. Many of them worked in the Eloor
industrial estate and were afraid of supporting Jose's cause. The threat
of job loss prevented them from fighting the pollution caused by their
places of work.
But today there are many local environment protection groups in Eloor
such as Periyar Malineekarana Virudha Samiti (PMVS), Periyar Samrakshana
Samiti (pss) and Merchem Malineekarana Virudha Samiti (MMVS) which keep
a watch on pollution by factories. "Without these industries, many
people will lose their jobs and small businesses will shut down. But if
the environment gets polluted nobody will survive," says Babu, a
restaurant owner. Jose, who was appointed by Greenpeace India as the
country's first 'river keeper', characterizes this sentiment as
"collective community consciousness" which has helped the 30,000-strong
island community to "at least ensure 40 percent clean-up of the
Periyar." This was unimaginable when the island was declared a 'Toxic
Hotspot' by the Central Pollution Control Board (cpcb) in 1999 because
of the unbridled pollution caused by the 247 factories of the estate,
106 of which released harmful chemicals.
Several industries, like the public sector behemoth, Hindustan
Insecticide Limited (HIL), should have long been closed because they are
still relying on obsolete technology. HIL manufactures pesticides such
as ddt and Endosulfan. ddt has been banned by most countries in the
world, but is still used in India to control malaria. The disastrous
health impact of endosulfan on farmers in Kerala forced the high court
to ban its sale and distribution in the state.
Yet, chemicals such as these continue to affect the environment and
unabashedly suck hundreds of crores of taxpayers' money. The Supreme
Court monitoring committee on hazardous wastes (SCMC) in its August 2004
report recognized this by slapping a fine of Rs 2.5 crores on the entire
estate. This was premised on the 'polluter pays principle' so that the
funds could be used "to monitor the health of the river and restore its
ecology".
But the state government has pushed Eloor into a time warp from which it
is unable to extricate itself. Neither has the fine been collected, nor
has the government taken remedial measures. Fortunately, intense
community action has ensured that during the last six months, illegal
discharges of hazardous wastes into the Periyar, either in the form of
solid waste or liquid effluents, have largely been under control.
Eloor is a grave hazard zone because there is no escape route in the
eventuality of an industrial disaster. There is only one way to access
Eloor — that is by a bridge that connects this island to the 'mainland'.
If ever there is a disaster, its 30,000 residents would be confronted
with unimaginable danger. Last year in July when the endosulfan unit of
HIL caught fire, the country could have faced a Bhopal redux. "We should
hang our heads in shame for not having learnt from the worst industrial
disaster the world has seen," says Purushan of PMVS. Environment
activists warn that there could be significant long-term effects of the
chemical pollutants released during the fire. "Our chemical analysis
shows the presence of dioxins in the food chain," says Purushan. Dioxins
and furans are chemicals that are life-threatening.
In 1999, Greenpeace India did a sampling study of Eloor and found 111
different chemicals in Kuzhikandum Thodu, a creek into which HIL,
Merchem and other units discharge their effluents. Of these 111, there
were as many as 39 persistent organic pollutants (POP). POPs are
chemicals resistant to natural breakdown processes and are therefore
long-living toxins. They build up in the fatty tissues of animals and
humans, and might even cause severe health impacts like hormonal
disruptions, loss of fertility and cancer.
Though factories in Eloor have regulated the discharge of effluents into
the Periyar, the residents allege that the factories use the cover of
darkness to release air pollutants and continue to store hazardous
wastes within factory premises. They talk of nights when the stench of
chemicals is so strong that breathing becomes difficult. No wonder many
people living in the island suffer from respiratory diseases. Dr Mini
George, the only doctor at the primary health centre, corroborates this.
Though the industrial complexes have own hospitals, they are not
accessible to the locals. She affirms that most of the cases she deals
with are "either respiratory diseases or those caused by consumption of
contaminated water".
MA Subramaniam, 53, complains of severe asthma and headache and
attributes it to the heavy discharge of poisonous smoke from the
factories. "My family lives on medicines," he says. KK Sasi, 45, an
asthma patient, says that for the past eight years he has been using
Asthalin to check asthma attacks. "I am panic-stricken if I ever step
out of the house without Asthalin," he says.
Kunjappan, 60, whose house is near a polluted, orange-colored paddy
field, is a victim of continuous exposure to Jarosite effluent of Binani
Zinc Ltd. "I used to take cattle out for grazing, but now I can't even
take a few steps because of the swelling on my legs," he says.
Recognizing heavy pollution caused by this company, the SCMC directed
the state government to ensure that "Binani Zinc supplies water through
pipeline to the residences of all the affected communities in the
vicinity of the unit".
The Eloor villagers also want the industries to compensate for the
agricultural land destroyed by toxic effluents. "Apart from the fact
that we don't have access to drinking water because of the contamination
of our wells, our agricultural and horticultural resources have been
completely destroyed," says Mohanan, a farmer. Given the grave threat to
their lives and livelihoods, local environment activists and community
members are collaborating to plan the future course of their movement to
force industries to adopt clean production technologies. "Emboldened by
the fact that the sc is backing our community's movement, we will ensure
that there is zero discharge of effluents by the industries into Periyar,"
says Zakir Hussain of PMVS. Eloor is an example of how communities can
contribute to safeguarding their environment. "Now our focus is on
compensation and medical rehabilitation of the affected people. We will
also force the industries to clean up all contaminated sites," says
Jose.
Mercury rises in
the Nilgiris
 For almost two decades, Hindustan Lever Limited's thermometer factory in
Kodaikanal functioned without alerting the employees or the people
living in the region about the dangers mercury posed. But its fortune
has run out. A Rs.1,000-crore lawsuit is on its way.
If you are planning a summer vacation at Kodaikanal, the Princess of
Hills nestled in the Nilgiris, you should know that the Department of
Atomic Energy (DAE) has found that the mercury level here is 1.32 mg per
cubic meter, about 2,640 times higher than the normal level of 0.5-10
nanogram per cubic meter.
For nearly two decades, the Hindustan Lever Limited's (HLL) thermometer
factory has been dumping mercury wastes down the hillside into the
Pambar Shola forests. Mercury vapors escaping from the obsolete factory
has had adverse effects on the lives of its more than 1,000 workers. The
extent of contamination can be gauged from the fact that DAE discovered
traces of the deadly metal on lichen samples from inside the forests,
the region's precious water source. Slowly the years of rampant chemical
pollution are taking a toll on the employees. Already 17 workers
(average age 32) have died of mercury poisoning.
Many families living around the factory are grappling with serious
health problems as a result of poisoning. Women have been affected the
most because they would be at home and would continually be subjected to
mercury vapors being forcefully blown out by the fans in the factory
workplace. Kodaikanal has an alarmingly high number of renal diseases.
"I lost both my kidneys because of mercury poisoning and had to replace
it at the Madurai Kidney Centre," says Shanti Jaya Mary, 28. Her
husband, John Kennedy, who worked in the factory for 18 years, is
suffering from a host of ailments. Two of their three daughters have a
severe thyroid problem while the other has growth deficiency.
"My family's health has already cost us Rs 9 lakh. We are in debt and
the only earning member is my mother-in-law. HLL should give us
compensation," she says.
Peter J. Sundarajan who used to work in the air-passing unit of the
factory, where mercury vapors are present in high quantities, says his
rib bones have become brittle. His gums bleed and he suffers from
giddiness. These are again symptoms of mercury poisoning. Yanasundari
used to work in the factory and says that mercury vapors would settle
down on the clothes of workers. She has twice delivered stillborn
babies.
Wherever Devraj Edward, 62, goes he carries a framed photograph of his
son. Wilburt Brito was 23 when he died of kidney failure. He was a
daily-wage worker at the factory, earning Rs 25 a day.
"He first complained of recurrent headaches. Then there was blood in his
urine and he would feel nauseous. After Dr. Balaji at the government
hospital diagnosed his illness we used to regularly take him to Madurai
Kidney Hospital for dialysis. But the cost of a kidney transplant is
approximately Rs 6 lakh and I did not have that kind of money. HLL
killed my son and we will drag the company to court," says Edward.
The 1,000-plus workers of HLL's thermometer factory have formed the
Ponds Hindustan Lever Limited Ex-Mercury Employees Welfare Association
and are preparing for a legal battle to press for compensation,
rehabilitation and remediation of the mercury-poisoned environment.
"We are preparing and planning to file a Rs 1,000-crore lawsuit against
HLL," says S. Raja Mohamed, general secretary of the association. "We
are also calling on the Indian government to prosecute HLL for the
murder of at least 17 workers," says Navroz Mody, former toxics
campaigner of Greenpeace India.
Mody and the activists of the Palani Hills Conservation Council came to
know of the pollution by HLL when they discovered mercury wastes in a
scrap yard in the busy Moonjigal market. The mercury scrap was weighed
and found to be approximately 7.4 tonnes.
Soon the people of Kodaikanal mounted protests. Their efforts bore fruit
in March 2001, when the company was forced to close down the thermometer
factory. "We are fighting for our survival and we will fight to the
last," says K. Gopalakrishnan of the workers welfare association.
The workers' association had planned to approach the court for
compensation before HLL's annual general meeting scheduled to be held on
June 24. "We have made a comprehensive database of 500-plus workers,
including 105 women, and their severe health problems as one of the
preparatory steps towards filing of the case," says Mohamed. But at the
Hazardous Waste Monitoring Committee (HWMC) meeting held at the Tamil
Nadu Pollution Control Board's (TNPCB) office on May 3, it was decided
that TNPCB should recommend Indian Toxic Research Centre, Lucknow, to do
a comprehensive epidemiological health survey of all affected workers
and the local community.
"You can be sure that when we file our case it will be the strongest
challenge ever mounted against a multinational company for failing to
maintain the same safety and disclosure standards that they are required
to in their home countries," says Gopalakrishnan.
HLL, the subsidiary of Unilever, manufactures '35 power brands' in India
like Surf Excel, Pepsodent, Lux and Brooke Bond Red Label. In 1984, the
year Bhopal gas disaster took place, a second-hand mercury factory owned
by Cheseborough Ponds was relocated from Watertown, New York, to a site
in Kodaikanal at an altitude of 2,000 meters. In 1997, HLL acquired
Ponds India Ltd and the ownership of the factory changed hands.
Between 1984 and 2001, long after the plant's 'safe life' period had
expired, 165 million thermometers were manufactured for export to
countries around the world. But HLL never informed the community or
workers about the dangers of exposure to mercury. From HLL's own records
it is clear that by the time the factory closed down, approximately
20-30 tonnes of mercury were 'lost' during manufacturing processes. This
was in addition to the mercury vapors released by the plant while in
operation.
HLL claims much of the mercury waste recovered from the scrap yard (289
tonnes) has been shipped back to the US. But the fact remains that
hundreds have been affected by mercury poisoning. John George, factory
manager at Kodaikanal, says that HLL's position is clearly stated on
Unilever's website. What can one make of a position that started with
this line: "Our thermometer unit at Kodaikanal does not send any waste
mercury or mercury contaminated waste outside the factory" and ended up
admitting that the company had indeed shipped at a very conservative
estimate 98 tonnes of mercury-contaminated glass to unsuspecting
recycling agents all over south India.
HLL professes its commitment to exhibit "highest standards of corporate
behavior" and "follow best practicable means for minimizing adverse
environmental impact arising out of its operations". Incidentally,
Senthil Kumar, one of the three laborers contracted by HLL's thermometer
factory to remove mercury waste from the factory died seven months ago.
Grapes of Wrath
Farmers in Dodballapur district of Karnataka blame the industries for
crop failures and resolve to confront the corporate crimes against the
environment.
Appaiah, a progressive grape farmer of Basarahalli village has had a
bitter experience with contaminated ground water. After he completed his
education he came back to his village to farm. In 1997-98, he took a
loan from the Government to set up his vineyard, a kilometer away from
the industrial estate of Dodballapur. In order to secure a loan it is
necessary for the borrower to get a certification from the state
horticulture department that the soil is suitable for grape farming. A
soil sample from his land was certified as suitable for grape
cultivation by the horticultural department. For two years the grape
yields delighted him and he was set to repay his loans.
However, in the third year he was devastated by the failure of his crop.
Tragedy befell as his vineyard dried up and withered away. The grapes
did not grow to their full size and the leaves on the vines dried up.
Unable to comprehend his sudden loss of fortune he decided to take water
and soil samples from his vineyard back to horticulture department. The
laboratory tests at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore revealed
that neither the soil nor the water was suitable for grape cultivation.
The water in his bore well had been contaminated. "They said the water
is not suitable for grapes. You can't use this water for grapes. You can
try some other crop," said Appaiah.
Disheartened by this development Appaiah was forced to buy another plot
of land a few kilometers away to install another bore well to direct
water from there through a pipeline to his crop. Farmers like Sita Ram
of Aradeshalli village in Dodballapur realized that their livelihood was
being severely compromised by contaminated ground water. According to
them companies like GOGO Exports belonging to the Goenka group and
Brindavan Phosphates have endangered their livelihood. "These factories
let out untreated effluents and this leads to contamination of the soil
and ground water. Earlier they would nonchalantly dump the effluents
onto to vacant land around the factories," said Ram. Once the toxic
sludge is dumped it flows propelled by the natural slope of the land
towards the Hesargatta Lake. It meets the lake in a village called
Marsanda. Incidentally, Hesargatta Lake's water is used for drinking
water supply in Bangalore city.
The effluents dumped in the vacant land around the industrial estate of
Dodballapur trickles through the land charring the trees and vegetation
along its flow. "The effluents are so toxic that even the Jalimara
trees, which are sturdy and takes about 25 years to grow to their full
size, have dried up," said Ram. The effluents flow through the land and
into a storm water drain that is linked to the lake. This toxic effluent
has affected the paddy fields and is slowly spreading all over
cultivable land. "If this goes on unchecked then very soon the entire
lake will be destroyed and poisoned," said Ram.
In the villages around Dodballapur, like Aradeshalli, there are umpteen
instances of cattle poisoned to death by drinking contaminated water.
"This is such a common occurrence that people don't even realize that
their cattle is dying because of polluted water," said Ram. Dodballapur
is primarily an agrarian district. At least 95% of its population is
dependent on agriculture and rest comprise the work force engaged in
industrial activity. The major concern in this region is the increasing
pollution of ground water resources. "Our livelihood is at stake and we
are very worried," is the constant refrain. The agriculturists and those
engaged in dairy farming live under the threat of unchecked ground water
contamination.
The manner in which industries flout environmental norms is staggering.
Villages around Dodballapur industrial estate have to contend with
depleting ground water. Savita, a sixth standard schoolgirl, Basunhalli
village, said "water in our area is not potable because the factories
are polluting it." Savita's mother fetches water for the family everyday
from a bore well a kilometer away from their house. It is not only the
dumping of effluents, but also the illegal drawing of ground water that
is leading to water scarcity in Dodballapur.
In this region villagers complain about itching feet and legs. People
had sores on their feet and legs. So do the cattle. In village after
village around Dodballapur's industrial estate the same story is
narrated with frightening similarity. In a village called Besavannagudi,
just a few kilometers away from the industrial estate, the villagers use
water from a community bore well installed by the village panchayat.
This water is stored in brass, copper, steel vessels according to the
local custom. But the vessels that store vessels corrode and the
contaminants in the water cut through the metal creating tiny apertures.
Such is the high toxic levels in the water that even pulses and
vegetable don't cook properly in this water. The reality dawned slowly
that the water is not fit for drinking. Now the village depends on a
bore well half a kilometer away. During the monsoons, there are power
cuts that last 2-3 days and the villagers have no option but to drink
the contaminated water.
A cursory walk around the polluted sites reveals that Dodballapur's
environment is being severely degraded. The villages around the
industrial estate are left with degraded soil, contaminated water, and
polluted air. The apathy of government agencies like the State Pollution
Control Board has only made matters worse. The PCB has the mandate to be
stringent about identifying and penalizing erring companies and
polluting industries. However, officials of the PCB have turned a blind
eye to the dumping of hazardous waste. Factories dump effluent
concentrate on fertile cultivable land. The brazenness with which this
effluent dumping is conducted is astounding. Truck-tankers pick up
effluent concentrate released by factories and then illegally dumped on
fertile agricultural land. Moreover, the tankers that dump the effluent
are marked as 'Water Supply'. This is merely a cover for collecting
effluents and dumping it illegally.
There is a strong local movement against water contamination. People in
Dodballapur want the ground water contamination to be reversed
completely. The compelling needs to protect their environment and
preserve it for future generations have driven them to address their
concerns firmly.
Fishy Tales
Fish exports from Cuddalore declines dramatically as chemical influx
from industries into the environment increase.
Murthy, a fisherman from Sonanchawdi village in Cuddalore despairs over
the chemical influx in the Uppanar River. "Our fishing activities have
been grievously affected and the children in our community show signs of
chemical poisoning. They complain of breathing disorders and nausea. The
children are not growing properly and there are many who have stunted
growth. It seems there is something wrong with their bones. A
14-year-old girl looks like she is 7 or 8. Many of our community members
also complain of infertility."
But the most damaging impact has been on the fishing trade. "Even
Germany is not buying our prawns any more because of the chemical
contamination. The prawns that we catch can find no market and is thrown
away. There's no bottom life in the riverbed any more, no algae, nothing
for the fish to feed on. Earlier when we caught the fish they would be
alive for 5 minutes, now they don't even survive for 30 seconds," says
Murthy.
The fishermen say that during the rainy season the water level rises and
washes away the contamination in the water and the silt in the river
doesn't have many contaminants enabling survival of bottom life on the
riverbed. At this time the prawn catch is good. Pollution has made
fishing dependent on the rainy season.
Sukumar, a fisherman from Thaikalthunithorai village says that people
have generally stopped eating fish in this region because there seems to
be direct relation between consumption of toxic contaminants in the fish
and health problems like headaches and blisters on the body. "We have a
dug a 300 feet bore well to draw out drinking water. But this water
can't be stored beyond a day because it begins to smell and we have also
noticed that an oily film on the surface of stored water.
Vasanta from Eechankaadu village bemoaned the cancer of pollution that
has destroyed the Uppanar River. "The chemical in the water corrodes
kitchen utensils," she said. "The Uppanar was beautiful earlier. The
children would go there, so would the cattle. Now it's filled with
sludge. If you step in it you will instantly develop skin rashes."
Twenty years ago when SIPCOT industrial estate was set up in Cuddalore
it was done without taking environmental degradation into account. Like
most project planning in India planners of industrial estates ignored
the heavy price that communities and the eventually the country pays
when the sustainability of the ecology is not factored as the key
element of any industrial development plan. "First they started building
big companies. For the first few years we couldn't tell the difference
but soon we realized that our lives would be changed forever by the
pollution emanating from the industries," said Vasanta.
According to Nityanand Jayaram, a writer and environment activist who
took an active part in training the villagers to monitor analyse and
document environment pollution, "chemical odors are an indicator of
gross pollution and that the release of toxic gases from industries
represents a case of hazardous waste dumping into the atmosphere.
Currently, no regulatory agency requires or monitors the air for toxic
gases such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and sulphur compounds.
Fed up with the degrading quality of their lives the villagers in
Cuddalore helped by Jayaram and other activists resolved to make their
habitats safe for future generations. The villagers in Cuddalore now go
on regular pollution patrol exercises. They collect air samples and
analyze them for pollutants. This grassroots movement has even attracted
the attention of the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee.
SIPCOT Area Community Environmental Monitors are the first to have
conducted a study on toxic gases in ambient air in India. The findings
of the report confirm that residents in SIPCOT have been exposed to
toxic gases for at least 20 years. The report's findings corroborate the
persistent complaints by residents about pollution-related health
effects and bear particular relevance to the health of women, children
and the elderly who spend all their time within the polluted confines of
the SIPCOT villages.
In fact, the SCMC has referred to the 'Gas Trouble' generated by the
villagers of Cuddalore. The Committee also said that such studies ought
to be carried out by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB).
"The Board ought to seriously respect the 'data' provided in the
complaints by human beings and the living sensors of human ears, throats
and skin to industrial pollution," stated SCMC.
The TNPCB is yet to come out with authentic information regarding the
nature and levels of toxic gases in the ambient air in the residential
areas in and around SIPCOT. The 'Gas Trouble' report has indicated
presence of 22 toxic chemicals that are harmful to eyes, respiratory
system, central nervous system, skin, liver, heart, kidney etc. Some of
these chemicals are even known to cause cancer. Air quality measurements
conducted by village monitors at different locations have reportedly
shown concentration of toxic gaseous compounds far in excess of
standards permissible under the United States Environment Protection
Agency (USEPA). For many of these compounds there is no Indian standard
as yet.
The SCMC has set an ultimatum to the TNPCB that "If the air pollution
around Cuddalore is not reversed within three months, from the date of
this Report, that is, by December 31, 2004, the entire Cuddalore
industrial estate shall go for closure and units will be allowed to
reopen only if they meet the currently available standards (applicable
in this case) laid down under the USEPA for volatile organic compounds
or CPCB (central pollution control board) standards if made available
during this period." However, the three-month deadline has gone by and
in Cuddalore its business as usual.
A Monsoon of
Chemicals
The recent floods have made the region around Gujarat's 400-km Golden
Corridor of industrial estates dangerous to live in. Deadly effluents
from thousands of industries are flowing into villages
Bhanu Patel, a farmer in Bharuch district, was simply stating a fact
when he said "our crops stand in several feet of polluted water for days
together when monsoon waters inundate our fields." This year too, as
monsoon arrived, Patel's words have come true. Poisonous chemicals have
flooded acres and acres of farmland as effluents from Gujarat's
industrial estates have been washed out into the vast agricultural
hinterland. Lakhs of farmers face the prospect of withered, poisoned
crops.
Though flooding is almost an annual occurrence, the industries release
toxic effluents during the monsoon. This practice is premised on the
smug belief that the monsoon dilutes the toxicity of the effluents and
renders them harmless.
For instance, the Ankleshwar industrial estate, situated along the
Narmada estuary, floods every year during the monsoon but doesn't stop
dumping toxic wastes. This industrial estate is Asia's largest and
comprises approximately 3,000 individual units, half of them chemical
plants manufacturing dyes, paints and fertilizers. There are 189 other
industrial complexes in Gujarat. This industrial estate alone generates
270 million liters of effluents every day and 50,000 tonnes of solid
waste a year.
Although the bigger factories have effluent treatment plants, many of
the smaller units dump their waste into open ditches or into the
Amlakhadi, a rivulet flowing through the estate. The polluted waters of
the Amlakhadi spread far and wide, affecting thousands of acres of
farmland. The effluents in Amlakhadi are known to damage crops and seep
into underground aquifers along with rainwater.
The Nandesari industrial estate housing such giants as Gujarat Alkalies
and Chemicals, Reliance's IPCL, Gujarat State Fertiliser Corporation and
the Indian Oil refinery has been dumping effluents into the Mahi
estuary. During floods the polluted river water is pushed almost 60 km
into the hinterland, even contaminating wells from which villagers take
water for drinking. Farmers in the area lament that the effluents from
the factories are turning their fertile fields of cotton, sugarcane,
maize, groundnuts, banana and lentil into wasteland.
The villagers in the region are paying a big price for the state
government's decision to sacrifice hectares and hectares of fertile land
to build a corridor of industrial estates from Vapi to Ahmedabad. There
was a time when the Vadodara-Kheda area was known for its banana
plantations. Bananas produced here were much sought after in Punjab.
"This was fertile land and anything would grow, even mangoes. Now
nothing grows," says an affluent organic farmer, Nilesh Ramanbhai Patel,
of Dasarath village adjoining the Nandesari estate.
Miles away in Sarangpur village, yellow water gushes out from a deep
bore well a few seconds after Ashok Vasava, a farm worker, switches on
the pump. He squats on the wet earth and watches the contaminated water
drawn from hundreds of feet below where he is hunkered down.
The hazards of industrial pollution are beginning to show in Gujarat's
famed corridor of growth — the chemical industry belt between Vapi, in
the state's southernmost district Valsad, famous for its mangoes, guavas
and chikoo, and Vadodara. The borewells and hand pumps in this heavily
industrialized region spew out yellow, red and green-colored acidic
water. "This is a clear indication of the enormous chemical
contamination of the groundwater," says AP Suleiman, an official of the
Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board (GWSSB).
But Sarangpur villagers are fortunate. They don't have to drink the
contaminated groundwater. Ahmad Patel, political secretary of Sonia
Gandhi, hails from the nearby Piraman village. He has used his influence
to make the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation to lay a Rs
2-crore water pipeline to supply drinking water to Piraman, Bhadkodara,
Kosambhi, Dadhan and Sarangpur.
However, many other villages and towns are living in a permanent state
of water crisis. The people there are dependent on chemically
contaminated water despite the fact that more than 600 borewells have
been sealed in this region.
"The groundwater of approximately 14 out of 19 districts and 74 out of
184 talukas of Gujarat, are critically affected by pollution," says
Rohit Prajapati of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti, Vadodara.
In response to the water crisis, the GWSSB has started a water supply
scheme, Fajalpur Juth Yojna, for 42 villages surrounding the Vadodara
petrochemical complex and the Nandesari industrial estate. In fact, the
GWSSB, in a recent report, admits, "Even though the development of this
industrial complex has helped the economic development of Gujarat, it
has created adverse impact on the ecology of the surrounding villages.
There is noticeable adverse effect on the environment particularly
regarding drinking water."
The air and water contaminants have potentially exposed lakhs of people
living in and around the golden corridor, a large number of them living
without basic amenities such as water, sanitation and health-care
facilities. Though a comprehensive health impact study is yet to be
undertaken, skin ailments, respiratory diseases, and headaches are
commonly reported. Cancer cases related to blood, urinary bladder,
reproductive tracts, lungs, breasts and the digestive track have shown
an increase. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHS) like benzene and
chlorobenzenes, heavy metals like nickel and cadmium, and suspended
particulate matter (SPM) in the environment are believed to be some of
the principal causes. Neither the government nor voluntary organizations
have done epidemiology studies. Therefore, no reliable data on the
health impact of unbridled pollution in the golden corridor exists.
However, the most critical aspect of the golden corridor is the complete
absence of a well-defined disaster management strategy. Recently, there
has been a spate of industrial accidents that left many dead and
injured. Most of the recent incidents have occurred in chemical plants,
but the state government is yet to put in place a disaster management
plan in the eventuality of a Bhopal-like emergency.
Considering the fact that the chemical plants in the golden corridor
rely on tightly coupled operations whereby one industrial process
affects another, rendering human intervention difficult if something
goes wrong, it is all the more important for the state government to
chart out a clear protocol to handle chemical disasters. A disaster
management plan would also entail training of industrial workers on how
to react in case of emergencies, supply of safety gear and regular
maintenance of chemical plants.
The gross violation of the most important worker safety law in the
country— 41 B of Factories Act, 1948 — is the clearest indication of how
Gujarat's golden corridor has become the country's most hazardous
industrial zone. This law makes it mandatory for chemical industries to
share information with the workers and the public at large on what is
produced in the plant, how it is produced and the toxic effects of the
chemicals that a plant produces. The law requires chemical industries to
reveal their production processes to the workers and the community. But
in the golden corridor, the industries hide the basic mandatory
information from the workers and community in the name of secrecy.
Tanneries Pollute
Vellore
The city famous for its super specialty hospital is now acquiring a
newfound status of a toxic hot spot
The Ministry of Environment and Forests has for long upheld its belief
that Common Effluent Treatments Plants (CETPs) are the solution to the
illegal dumping of toxic effluents by industries across India. The
Supreme Court Monitoring Committee (SCMC) on hazardous principally
considers CETPs and secure land fills to dump hazardous wastes as the
solution to illegal dumping of toxic effluents in rivers and arable
land. However, even the SCMC suspects the efficacy of CETPs operating in
the country. In its report on Tamil Nadu the SCMC sought prior
information from the State Pollution Control Board relating to the
number of CETPs that were in compliance of the environmental standards
for discharge of liquid effluent. This was because the "data on CETPs
supplied by the Board during the SCMC's visit was not adequate in terms
of treatment system place, performance of the units and the
characteristics of final treated effluent."
But Indian farmers who have had the misfortune of cultivating arable
land in the vicinity of industries are aware that CETPs are not the
panacea for polluting effluents. Kuppanga, a farmer, whose farm adjoins
a CETP complex in Vellore, affirms the 'dead at birth' status of the
CETP.
"The entire toxic waste goes into a pit inside the CETP compound. There
it is sieved as it streams into a septic tank. But at this juncture the
toxic sludge leaks out and contaminates the soil. The toxic waste has
degraded the fertility of my land. Invariably only one in five crop does
well. I told the officials of CETP that the inefficient handling of the
toxic waste is the primary reason for the crop on my field drying up,
but they just don't care."
In fact the CETP in Vellore was touted as the solution to all the
effluent problems, but Kuppanga says that even the treated water is full
of toxic chemicals. "When the 'treated water' is released by the CETP it
gushes out and the chemicals are not visible to the naked eye. But the
moment it dries up on the land you can see the white residues of the
chemical." Farmers also complain of foul smell emanating from the
'treated water'. "We can't even walk through our fields. We can tell
from experience that when we come into contact with the 'treated water'
we get ulcerations on our skins and it stings like an insect bite," says
Kuppanga.
The SCMC has expressed serious concern over the extremely hazardous
wastes dumped by Tamilnadu Chromates and Chemicals in the open
environment in violation of the hazardous waste rules. According to the
SCMC "the Geological Survey of India has reported contamination of
ground water up to a distance of 2.5 kms from the dumping site of the
unit. Despite this finding the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board has
carried out a survey of the people affected by such contamination of
ground water and there is no accurate data available of affected
facilities.
The other reason for the contamination of the ground water in Vellore is
because the tanneries are dumping their effluents into city's
lifeline—the Palar River. All the tanneries here from Vaniampadi to
Ranipet dump their effluents into the river. The tannery industry in
Vellore earlier worked on organic production processes. But with the
introduction of modern production technologies the tanneries wilfully
ignored the need to set up effluent treatment plants.
The high pollution level of the Palar is because the tanneries are
completely dependent on the river for their fresh water used in the
production processes. The Ranipet pumphouse is the place from where the
tanneries source the fresh water. " They are paid 30 lakhs per year.
They charge Rs 50 for 1 tanker truck, that is, ten thousand liters.
Everyday hundreds of tankers transport fresh water to the tanneries and
all the effluent is directed back to the riverbed," says Srinivasan.
What has compounded the problem is the significant increase in the
setting up of new tanneries and up scaling of leather production.
The Palar River bed is dry most of the year because it is a seasonal
river. It stirs to life every year during the monsoon. When the river is
devoid of water the riverbed is quarried for its 15 feet of sand. Palar
is the primary source of drinking water for the residents of Vellore.
But those who live in this city made famous by the super specialty
hospital, Christian Medical College, say that the clear water of Palar
has turned into blood red. A local environment group, Pasumai Thayagam,
affirms that the red toxic water has destroyed sources of potable
drinking water in various localities of Vellore like Ambur, Vaniampadi
and Ranipet.
There have been instances when red toxic water has gushed out of newly
dug bore wells. Srinivasan, an environment activist of Pasumai Thayagam,
vents his desperation: "Where is the government? Where are the pollution
control authorities? Why doesn't anyone come here to check and find ways
to stop it?"
March 19, 2006
Top
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Environment
The Week of March 19, 2006
India's Politics on the Boil by Dr. Subhash
Kapila
Reforming Criminal Justice by Rajinder Puri
India Aghast at Minority Imperialism by Dr.
Subhash Kapila
US History - Lesser Known
Facts, Analogies & Surmises Part 6 by Gaurang Bhatt, MD
BJB: Kal Ho Na Ho! by Usha Kakkar
Cartoons Claim Another Victim! by Usha Kakkar
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad : A Revolutionary
Journalist by Syed Muzammiluddin
Bheel Mahabharata: Ganga Weds a Frog Prince by
Satya Chaitanya
Will the War against Terrorism become Successful?
by TA Ramesh
Buddhism and Human Rights in Tibet by Tanmoy
Mookherjee
Poisoned Lives: Hyderabad's Stillborn Future by
MH Ahsan
Justice is all about Healing the Victims by
Manjri Sewak
Lost in Cane... and Twice ... by Naiya Sivaraj
Who Ate my Soulmate? by Neha Girotra
Write, Write and Write ... by Suniti
Chandra Mishra
Overcoming Fear by Sugandha Indulkar
Is Your Child Allergic to Milk? by Garima
Gupta
Baby Servants of Baba Logs by Malvika Kaul
Premenstrual
Syndrome by Dr. Muneeb Faraaz
A Language for Love by Akshay
Khanna
IT at Home by Tripat Kaur
Remake Rage in Bollywood by MH Ahsan
Dev Objects to Guide Remake
by MH Ahsan
My Dad Left Holes by Monisha Sen
Who will Pursue Medical Profession? by Dr.
Shanker Adawal
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