Press Release
Bargarh, Odisha and Vaishali villagers lead the
struggle against hazardous asbestos factories
Vaishali Villagers Face Strategic
Litigation Against Public Interest Persons (SLAPP) from Utkal Asbestos Limited
Bargarh, Patna, New
Delhi December 19, 2012: Pune based Vishwakarma Asbestos Roofings company and
West Bengal based
company Utkal Asbestos Limited (UAL) which were trying to start their work at Lebidi
Village of Sohella Block, Bargarh District in Odisha and Bihar’s Chaksultan Ramppur Rajdhari village near
Panapur in Kanhauli Dhanraj Panchayat, Goraul block, Vaishali have been stopped
by the villagers from undertaking the construction of the hazardous asbestos
based plants.
Villagers
in Bihar and Odisha have been resisting the company and its work on asbestos
since past 2 years.
On December 12, 2012, when the Vishwakarma Asbestos
Roofings company was trying to start its work by bringing 2Borewell trucks and
digging a borewell there. Agitated villagers stopped the efforts to construct the
asbestos based factory. The incident of burning of 2 trucks has also come to
light. the video of the Burning trucks at the location. http://www.youtube.com/watch?
In a similar incident villagers
of Vaishali demolished the under construction factory West Bengal based company
Utkal Asbestos Limited (UAL) on December 16, 2012. But instead of honoring the
gnawing health concerns of villagers of Vaishali, the company has filed cases
against them in a blatant case of Strategic Litigation Against Public Interest
Persons (SLAPP) to silence them.
The case has also been
filed against Gopal Krishna, an environmental and occupational health
researcher who had apprised the District Magistrate of Vaishali about the
Unanimous Resolution of World Health Organisation (WHO) seeking elimination of
all kinds of asbestos because there is no safe threshold level for use of asbestos
fibers on behalf of villagers of Vaishali’s Chaksultan Ramppur Rajdhari near
Panapur in Kanhauli Dhanraj Panchayat, Goraul block when the administration had
convened a tripartite meeting on October 10, 2012. The delegation met under the
leadership of Ajeet Kumar Singh of Khet Bachao Jeevan Bachao Jansagharsh
Committee . The minutes of the meeting in DM office reveal it. A copy of the case is attached.
Case
No. 509/2012 has been filed in the Maahuwa Police Station, Vaishali, Bihar
under Sections 1347, 148, 149, 342, 323, 307, 332, 379, 380, 114, 504 and 427
against Gopal Krishna and several villagers.
Case
No. 510/2012 has been filed under Section 143, 323, 332, 283, 427, 510 against
Lalit Ghosh, Ravindra, Asheshar Sharma and several others.
Under
the leadership of Ram Asheshar Sharma of Khet Bachao Jeevan Bachao Jansangarsh
Samiti, Gopal Krishna and several villagers like Lalit Ghosh, Ajeet Kumar Singh,
Ravindar Kumar had met Chairman, Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB)
and submitted a memorandum demanding permanent stoppage of the construction of
lung cancer causing proposed white asbestos based factory on October 12, 2012.
Earlier,
villagers of Muzaffarpur, Bihar and Sambalpur. Odisha have successfully stopped
construction of asbestos based plants of West Bengal based Balmukund company and
Hyderabad based Visaka Industries respectively.
The
World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a new factsheet on asbestos that re-iterates
that the most efficient way to eliminate asbestos-related diseases is to stop
the use of all types of asbestos and specifically states that its strategy is
particularly targeted at countries still using chrysotile asbestos. The
factsheet notes that “more than 107 000 people die each year from
asbestos-related lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis resulting from
occupational exposure.”
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs343/en/index.html
ToxicsWatch Alliance
(TWA) salutes the scientific temper of the villagers who are demanding that the
State Governments and Central Government should put public health ahead of
naked lust for profit of the merchants of the deadly business.
Contact:
Amitabh
Patra, Jan Parivesh Suraksha Samiti, Bargarh, Odisha Mb: 08763324299
Ajeet
Kumar Singh, Convener, Khet Bachao Jeevan Bachao Jansagharsh Committee,
Vaishali Mb: 9931669311
Gopal Krishna,
ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA), Mb:09818089660 (Delhi), 08002263335 (Patna),
E-mail:krishna1715@gmail.com
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