Tamil Nadu’s Ramco asbestos company in Bihiya,
Bhojpur begins to takes its toll on workers
Double standards adopted by State Pollution Control Board
for Bhojpur asbestos factories, notes Patna High Court
February 1, 2014: In a
significant development, 15 year old Rekha Kumari, daughter of 37 year old Virendra
Kumar Singh alias Barak Yadav, the dead Ramco’s asbestos factory worker has filed a complaint in the
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), New Delhi accusing Ramco Industries of
having caused his father’s death. The complaint was received by NHRC on January
28, 2014.
Late Virendra Kumar
Singh a resident of Mishraulia, Shahpur, Bhojpur worked in the factory of Tamil
Nadu based Ramco Industries in
Bhojpur, Bihar. He survived by his 80
years old father Rasbihari Yadav, his 34 year old wife Sunita, his two daughters-aged
15 and 8 and two sons-aged 12 and 6.
In her complaint,
deceased asbestos worker’s daughter has informed NHRC that his father died of
chest related diseases on November 2, 2013. She has complained that the company
did not provide any medical treatment to his father when his father suffered from
chronic pain in chest from September 2013 onwards. In her complaint she states
that “she believes that his father died due to the disease caused while he was
working at Ramco’s factory.” Seeking justice, she has demanded adequate compensation
and sought fixing of accountability of the company.
Her complaint has been
submitted as part of on an ongoing case (Case No.2951/30/0/2011) in NHRC as
well. In this case Bihar Governments has filed its submission referring to the
operations of asbestos factory in Bihiya, Bhojpur, Bihar. The submission of the
government is evasive and incomplete is revealed by letter from the daughter of
the asbestos worker.
The painful death of
Shri Virendra Kumar Singh alias Barak Yadav, the asbestos worker who worked in
the factory of Ramco Industries in Bhojpur, Bihar merits urgent attention. The
State Government may be asked to submit the health records of all the workers
who are working in this factory including that of Shri Virendra Kumar Singh
alias Barak Yadav.
Meanwhile, a team of Raju
Ranjan, Jan Sankriti Manch, Ara, Bhojpur and a representative of
ToxicsWatch
Alliance (TWA) recently visited the family of the victim of the asbestos
related disease and inquired about the circumstances of his death. The team
will submit a fact finding report to the Bihar State Human Rights Commission
and other concerned authorities.
As per Hon’ble Supreme
Court’s judgement of January 27, 1995 in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 206 of 1986
which was reiterated on January 21, 2011, the health records of workers have to
be maintained for 40 years and for 15 years after the retirement. The judgment
also stipulates compensation for such workers who suffer from asbestos related
diseases.
Notably, Hon’ble
Patna High Court has rightly observed in its August 19, 2013 order that “…In
the circumstances, this Court is really surprised with the stand of the State
Board that the norms have been relaxed for the two other asbestos manufacturing
units in operation from before, only on the ground that they are running in the
respective industrial areas.”
In the light of
this observation it is abundantly that Bihar State Pollution Control Board
(BSPCB) is adopting double standards in the matter of cancellation of Consent
to Establish-cum- No Objection Certificate (NOC) given to asbestos companies in
Bhojpur and Vaishali. The two companies –namely, Tamil Nadu based Ramco
Industries and Nibhi Industries -mentioned by the Court are located in Bihiya
and Giddha, Koilwar of Bhojpur district. BSPCB has cancelled the NOC of West
Bengal based Utkal Asbestos Limited (UAL)’s proposed asbestos based plant in Vaishali
for violating environmental and industrial siting guidelines of BSPCB.
Chennai based Ramco Industries Ltd has two units of 1,20,000
MT/Annum Capacity of Asbestos Cement
Sheet Plant and 2 Lakh MT/Annum Capacity of Cement Grinding Plant
at Industrial Area, Bihiya, Bhojpur.
The plant got environmental clearance for the first unit. Even
this clearance and the NOC was/is based on a fake public hearing with the help
of local muscle man. There are complaints pending with the District
Administration against the plant. It violates the environmental and
industrial siting guidelines of BSPCB. The total
project area is 20 acres and land is allotted by the state government on lease
for 90 years. On 10th May, 2010, the project was discussed by the Experts
Appraisal Committee (EAC), Industry, Union Ministry of Environment &
Forests. In the minutes of the EAC, there explicit reference to “Health
Management Plan for Mesothalimoa, Lung cancer and Asbestosis related problems
in asbestos industries”. The plant being established by Tamil Nadu based Ramco
Industries Ltd. Bihar’s State Investment Promotion Board (SIPB) had cleared its
establishment on 23rd November, 2009 with a total investment of Rs 60.20 crore.
The second unit of the Ramco company is running without environmental clearance
and NOC.
In contempt of Supreme Court’s order dated January 27, 1995, the Ramco
is not maintaining and maintaining the health record of every worker, not
conducting Membrane Filter test to detect asbestos fibre and not insuring health
coverage to every worker. It is reliably learnt that the company does not have
qualified occupational health doctors to undertake these tasks. The company
should be asked for a list of workers employed in the factory, their health
records and the qualification of the doctor assigned to undertake their health
checkup.
While BSPCB has done the right thing by citing its battery limit
of “a distance of minimum 500 meters from the National/State Highway, Railway line,
river and human habitation” to outlaw the proposal of a asbestos company, the
same should be applied to asbestos based toxic factories in Bhojpur. No amount
of sophistry by the companies operating in Bhojpur and some officials in BSPCB
can undermine the gnawing anxiety about risk and hazardous consequences
underlined by WHO and ILO which has sought elimination of manufacturing and use
of asbestos based products. The BSPCB should take recourse to pre-existing
orders of the Supreme Court and its legal imagination to outlaw industrial and
environmental risks from these hazardous factories and save public health.
Photo: Smita Kumar, The Telegraph
In a related
development, two teams of TV journalists from US and Delhi visited and recorded
the indiscriminate dumping of asbestos waste in the agricultural fields and in
the backyard and front yard of village households by Ramco Industries. The company
has created a dumpsite of its asbestos waste adjacent to human habitation with
impunity. Its factory is situated amidst villages and temples that exposes the
villagers to the hazardous fibrers. The villagers revealed that the factory
releases huge amounts of dust and smoke at night that creates a cloud above
their houses causing visibility problem.
The other factory is of Chennai based Nibhi Industries Pvt. Ltd
for One Lakh MT Capacity Asbestos Fiber Cement Corrugated Sheet, Flat Sheet and
Accessories and Light Weight Fly Ash Block Plant at Giddha, Koilwar, Bhojpur. There
are complaints pending with the District Administration against the plant. The
asbestos based factory at Giddha, Koilwar is also in proximity of human
habitation is exactly in front of Trident BEd College. One worker was crushed
to death in this factory in June 2013. It also violates the environmental and
industrial siting guidelines of BSPCB. A reply
dated August 13, 2012 was sent to the Secretary, Environment & Forests
Department, Government of Bihar by BSPCB which was shared with the NHRC. It
revealed to NHRC that the Giddha based factory was not working. Its clearances
have expired and a show cause notice was issued to the plant. Paryavaran Swasthya
Surkasha Samiti has been seeking removal of the plant, decontamination of the site
and compensation for exposing the villagers of Giddha to asbestos fibers.
Both central and state government expect communities in villages
around the hazardous industrial units of Ramco Industries in Bihiya and Giddha to
become superior risk bearers unlike villagers of Muzaffarpur and Vaishali where
similar plants have been stopped. Unmindful of the death toll, clearances have
accorded to yet another asbestos based plant in Madhubani amidst all round
opposition. When defending the indefensible asbestos factories becomes a
compulsion of officialdom, disasters like the one witnessed in the factory of
Union Carbide Corporation (UCC)’s hazardous pesticide plant become the order of
the day.
For
Details: Gopal Krishna, ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA), Mb: 08227816731,
09818089660, Email:gopalkrishna1715@gmail.com, Web: www.toxicswatch.org
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