The Kanjikode
industrial park in Kerala is in the news for good as well as bad
reasons. The 300-acre park is the second largest of its kind in the
state and the state government has recently submitted a proposal to the
defence ministry to establish a defence production unit there.
But the grime side of the story is that industrial pollution in the
region has assumed alarming proportion. According to the tribals and the
Dalits who reside in the region, Kanjikode is a hell. As many as 42
iron-smelting factories along with the soft drink giant Pepsi's bottling
unit are violating the pollution control measures and industrial safety
norms. Almost all the residents near the park are suffering from
bronchitis, asthma, cancer and kidney diseases ever since the
establishment of these units.Eight-year-old Samadhana Prabhu goes to the
local government hospital every week since he is suffering from severe
respiratory ailments. The doctors have advised the poor Dalit family to
shift their home outside the highly polluted Vivekanada Colony in
Kanjikode. But they have no place to go.
"We are
not against the industrial units. There are over 498 industrial
units. Due to these iron smelting units, Kanjikode is another
'Bhopal' in the making. A slow and silent death is in store for
us,'' said 50-year-old Pushpa who resides in the colony.Even the
flowers and trees of the colony have turned black due to the
emission of black waste from the Kairali Steel, a steel-smelting
unit. The residents even hesitate to dry up their white clothes in
open place. The walls of most houses have already turned black.
"In the last six months, two men died due to respiratory ailments.
The hospitals and the district administration had confirmed it. But
the factory owners were not ready to give even a paltry compensation
to the victims' families," said Pushpa.
"The Dalit families, now living in the Vivekananda colony, were the
ones who gave land to establish the park. Accepting the
rehabilitation package of the then United Democratic Front (UDF)
government, they moved to the colony. However, the government even
allowed many polluting units to operate in their residential area,"
said SB Raju, a trade union activist. Worse, 16 of these units are
located on the banks of Korayar, a major tributary of Kerala's
largest river Bharathapuzha. Due to the direct dumping of industrial
wastes into the river, water has turned arsenic and about a
kilometer stretch of its bank is deposited with the solid wastes.
Moreover, a sponge iron unit has recently been established close to
the Malapuzha drinking water and irrigation project site in
Bharathapuzha. Once operational, the factory's waste and fly ash
would contaminate the water source of over five lakh people.
Significantly, these 42 units have employed about 13,000 labourers
mostly from Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh. Even the Palakkad
district labour office has no information about them. But the local citu
office reveals that they work in extremely inhuman conditions. There is
no fixed duty hours or minimum wage. They work in a high-temperature
environment. "They have provided us gunny bags to cover our bodies. One
will pump water on these bags to make us cool. But that is quite
inadequate when the temperature rises up to 1,500 degree Celsius,'' said
Masud (name changed), an AP Steel employ, who hails from Bihar."The
workers there are mere slaves. The middle men and the commission agents
recruit labourers from North India. Once they join the work, any demand
from their side even for basic needs would be suppressed mercilessly,"
said R. Sreevatsan, a citu leader. "They are not even allowed to speak
to the local people," he added.
In the
previous year, at least seven workers were died in explosions which took
place in the factories. The normal daily wage in Kerala is around Rs
150. However, these workers get only Rs 35 as the recruiting agents
would also get a cut from their salary.
Following the intervention of Palakkad MP, NN Krishnadas, Chief Minister
VS Achuthanandan sent a legislature committee to study the situation
there. However, the locals say that there is a lobby within the CPM to
protect the interests of factory owners. "These units are using lethal
toxic and explosive materials as raw materials," says T. Suresh,
president, Pudussery panchayat.
"Parts of missiles, tanks, chemical equipment and even nuclear wastes
are being imported from overseas to re-cycle there," he added.According
to a study by the Central Pollution Control Board, no such factory is
permissible in Palakkad district, considering its demographic aspects. A
top official of the Kerala State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) also
confirms the people's grievances. "The villagers had filed complaints on
air and water pollution," admits ST Jayaprasad, Member Secretary, KSPCB.
"The board members visited the area and directed the factory owners to
institute a number of remedial measures," he added. But hardly anyone
believes this. Says eminent writer Sukumar Azhikode: "It (KSPCB) is not
a board that controls pollution but one that is controlled by the
politicians."
Most factories do not possess the panchayat's license to smelt iron.
Undoubtedly, these are owned by powerful politicians. The locals say a
former industry minister (who is reportedly close to the current
Industry Minister Elamarom Kareem) owns many. The police, taxes and
power department officials confirm that he was instrumental in granting
the units clearance, bypassing the objections raised by the departments
concerned.
Curiously, Kareem is keeping a studied silence over the demand of local
CPM leaders to curb these polluting units.
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