| Subject: Re: OOPs here is the article...RISE AND SHINE ignorant fucking ass hole... -- DE, 09:30:48 06/09/07 Sat [1] |
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Date Posted: 06:44:36 06/09/07 Sat
In reply to:
DE
's message, "OOPs here is the article" on 05:52:38 06/09/07 Sat
>KERALA’S KILLER FACTORIES
>
>PARK OF POLLUTION
>
>The residents of a Dalit colony in Kerala’s Kanjikode
>have been dying a silent death, reports KA Shaji
>
>
>Where to go: Samadhana Prabhu and his parents have
>been advised to move
>Photos: Sujit
>
>The industrial area has 42 factories that flout
>industrial security norms and pollution control
>measures
>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.
>
>
>Out to kill: industrial waste along the Kotayar river
>bank
>
>‘The workers from North India come for a daily wage of
>Rs 35 and are not allowed to talk to the locals,’
>
>says a CITU leader
>
>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.
>
>DEAD END
>
>In the last six months, two men died at a Dalit colony
>near the Kanjikode industrial park due to respiratory
>ailments
>The district administration had confirmed it but no
>compensation was given to the victims’ families
>Most residents are suffering from bronchitis and
>asthma
>Even the flowers and plants have turned black in the
>colony due to pollution
>Most factories have employed about 13,000 workers,
>mostly from Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh
>There is no fixed duty hours or minimum wage for them
>
>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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