High
Court to hear March 4 petition of Utkal Asbestos Company on April 8
Patna/New Delhi: The inquiry
report of Bihar State Pollution Control Board on asbestos company’s claims following
the direction of Chief Minister of
Bihar on February 13, 2013 has not been made public as yet. On March 4, 2013 the team of Bihar State Pollution Control Board
(BSPCB) visited the factory site of Utkal Asbestos Limited (UAL) renamed as M/S
U.A.L Industries Limited in Chaksultan, Rampur, Rajdhari near Panapur in
Kanhauli Dhanraj Panchayat, Goraul, Mahuwa, Vaishali.
It may be noted
that “Since new asbestos use is banned in developed world, the global asbestos
corporate is trying to create new markets in the countries with weak
legislation” such as India. Bihar Government can act to protect public health
because health is a State subject and show the path to the central government
The Chief
Minister gave the directions when a delegation of Khet Bachao Jeevan Bachao
Jansangharsh Samiti and senior political leaders from left parties met him at
his residence. The Patna High Court is all set to hear March 4, 2013 petition
of Utkal Asbestos Company on April 8. The
petition was filed on the same day on which BSPCB team visited the proposed
plant’s site for inspection as per Chief Minister’s order.
The company has not
disclosed to the Court about BSPCB’s inspection about the veracity of the
company’s claims is underway. It is noteworthy that the Sub Divisional Officer
(SDO), Mahuwa Jyoti Kumar, has expressed his worry about the imminent water
crisis in the area when officials of UAL Industries Ltd and members of Khet
Bachao Jeevan Bachao Jan Sangarsh Committee comprising of villagers of Kanhauli
Dhanraj Panchayat of Goraul block met in the office of Sub Divisional Officer
(SDO), Mahuwa, Vaishali on September 28, 2012 to discuss the grievances against
the lung cancer causing factory. This
was the second tripartite meeting was necessitated by villagers Mahadharna of
June 14, 2012 against the plant. A similar meeting was held on June 30, 2012.
It has come to light
that the Circle Officer of the area is believed to have wrongly informed the
BSPCB that the fertile patch of agricultural land verifiable from the land
records was ‘barren’ by trusting the flawed EIA report the company. Villagers
have explained how fake public hearing and faulty environmental clearance
happened by blatant factual misrepresentation. A total of 4 pages as against
more than 300 pages of EIA were given to the villagers. The EIA report referred
to agricultural land as barren land. When UAL representative and EIA consultant
was asked to explain in the tripartite meeting in the office of Sub Divisional
Officer (SDO), Mahuwa, Vaishali on June 30, 2012, the EIA consultant replied
that by barren he meant vacant land. This clearly exposes the false claims of
the company.
The No Objection
Certificate and Consent-to-Establish certificate given to UAL Industries Ltd by
BSPCB had expired on September 1, 2012 (Memo No. T.13350). It is not clear
whether the certificate has been renewed.
As per Environmental
Clearance letter dated February 23, 2012 given to M/s UAL – Bihar (A Unit of
M/s UAL Industries Ltd.) at Village Chak Sultan & Rampur Rajdhari, Goraul, Vaishali, Bihar, UAL’s claim is
mentioned as “Total land acquired is 18 acres of barren land of which green
belt will be developed in 6 acres (33%) of plant area.” This claim about
barreness of the land is deeply flawed. The letter also reveals UAL’s claim
that “Total water requirement will be 120 m3/day and will be sourced from own
bore wells” amounts to 43800 m3/annum. The District Magistrate, Vaishali also
stated in the meeting held in his office on November 10, 2012 that the claim of
meeting this water requirement from its own bore well cannot be trusted. He had
asked the company to submit a report to him regarding its proposed ways to meet
the water requirement for the proposed asbestos based company during the
tripartite meeting with the villagers and the company officials. It is not
clear whether the same has been submitted.
The environmental
clearance letter for plant reads: “To educate the workers, all the work places
where asbestos dust may cause a hazard shall be clearly indicated as a dust
exposure area through the use of display signs which identifies the hazard and
the associated health effects.”
There is an intriguing
silence about health hazards to the villagers who live in the proximity of the
hazardous asbestos plant. Asbestos is a hazardous mineral fiber which remains
always lethal and causes incurable lung diseases.
Villagers and the Khet Bachao Jeevan Bachao Jansangarsh Committee are
bitterly opposed the proposed construction of the plant. They have consistently
been supported by all the left parties who have issued letters of support from
the very outset.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer, a UN agency says, “Asbestos, is a
potent human carcinogen; and amount of asbestos already released in the
environment creates a situation where exposure to chrysotile products remains
the leading cause of mesothelioma in the world.”
Professor Elihu D Richter MD from the Hadassah
School of Medicine of Hebrew University, Israel says: “All form of asbestos
kill. India should bury asbestos, not people….India should not repeat the
mistakes of going back some 70 years which will kill tens of thousands of
workers and their families” during his visit to New Delhi. By taking decisive
steps, Bihar Government can pave the path for the central government to revise
its past support to the hazardous asbestos industry.
For Details:
Gopal Krishna, Convener, ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA), Web: www.toxicswatch.org, E-mail:
gopalkrishna1715@gmail.com
Ajit Kr Singh, Convener, Khet Bachao Jeevan
Bachao Jan Sangharsh Committee (KBJBJC), Vaishali, Mb: 09931669311, E-mail:ajeetsinghpushkar@
Ravindra Prasad Singh, KBJBJC), Vaishali, Mb:
8986980751
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