The Hindu : Business : Industries told to adopt safety systems

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 01, 2006

Business

Business

Industries told to adopt safety systems

Staff Reporter

KOCHI: Industrial establishments should ensure that their projects do not imperil life and environment, said Yogendra Chaudhury, counsellor, Environment Management Division of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), New Delhi.

He was addressing a workshop on environment, health and safety (EHS) management systems and EHS legislation organised by CII here on Tuesday.

A study conducted by CII on water demand by industries has indicated scarcity of water by 2050. The Indian industry utilised 43 billion cubic metres of water in 2003. The requirement is bound to go up to 800 bcm. At present, only three per cent of the available water on earth is usable by mankind. As there will be no increase in the water sources, the rise in demand for industrial water will result in severe pressure on the available sources.

He said 70 per cent of surface water resources of India is polluted. About 3,000 major and two million small-scale units discharge waste into rivers. Though standards have been set for the contents of the discharge before being let out into the river, the net content of pollutants in the river will be high when a large number of industries discharge treated effluents into the river.

The level of cyanide content in groundwater in Ludhiana is 50 times the WHO prescribed limits. An average metro citizen in India has 3-8 micrograms lead per 100 ml of blood as against permissible level of 2 micrograms per 100 ml, he said.

Quoting an ILO study, he said about 6,000 workers die every day due to occupational accidents and diseases. In India, 125 workers die and 50,000 get injured every day, according to a study by a private group.

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