Tuesday, Jan 28, 2003
Tuesday, Jan 28, 2003 |
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Andhra Pradesh-Hyderabad
By Our Special Correspondent
An MoU was signed between the State Government and the Chemplast for the Rs. 500-crore project at the CII Partnership Summit held here recently. The plant originally set to come up in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, with financial assistance from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank group, was forced to relocate following stiff resistance by local communities and international groups, J. Rama Rao of Samriti and R. Ravi of Samata, alleged. The immediate fallout of this resistance and receiving of hundreds of letters against the project including politicians in the United States, was the unprecedented move by the IFC to postpone, indefinitely, a vote on funding of the project. ``It is one thing attracting fresh investments and proposals, but to knowingly bring in a factory that manufactures a product that has drawn international condemnation is nothing short of inviting disaster,'' said B. Narasimha Reddy of the Centre for Resource Education. Why doesn't the Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, invite only clean industries that would not interfere with the rights of other people to live a life free of poisons?'' Describing PVC as "poison plastic,'' they said it was subject of intense regulation the world over. Its production, use and disposal were associated with the release of deadly environmental poisons such as dioxins and furans. Both of these are targeted for worldwide phase out through international environmental regulations. The raw material Vinyl Chloride Monomer (VCM) that the factory plans to bring by sea, is a known human carcinogen. Studies had documented that workers exposed to VCM in the workplace were susceptible to fatal cancers of the liver and brain. They recalled that at a public hearing held at Cuddalore on June 7, 2002, the local community and elected panchayat members opposed the setting up of the factory. The people there expressed the fear that in the event of a mishap, entire village could be wiped out. "If it is not good for people of Tamil Nadu, how can it be so for Andhra Pradesh? Should the Chief Minister, who always talks of clean and green programme, be so very insensitive to subject people to such a risk?'' they asked. The civil society groups in Tamil Nadu have cautioned people in Andhra Pradesh about the company's track record. A PVC factory operated by it in Mettur, was known for discharging lethal chemicals like mercury and chlorinated poisons into the environment. The Environment Impact Statement (EIS) prepared by the company was described as a "flawed document that suppressed facts'' Mark Chernalk, a scientist with Environmental Lawyers Alliance Worldwide based in Oregon, USA, who studied the EIS, found that even going by the company's own figures, rates of dangerous emissions from the factory would far exceed international safety limits.
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