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UN team to visit industrial estate in Cuddalore

CUDDALORE: The United Nations Special Rapporteur Oliver Shutter and his team will make a field visit to the SIPCOT Industrial Estate here and the eight surrounding villages on March 31 to assess the impact of pollution.

State president of the Bharatiya Krishak Samaj D. Gurusamy, who is coordinating the visit, told presspersons here that after studying the pollution aspect and interacting with the stakeholders Mr. Shutter would file a report with the UN.

He noted that since India was a signatory to the UN Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights it was expected of it to file a compliance report once in five years. But it filed a consolidated report for 15 years only in last May 2009.

Moreover, the country had only permitted the UN team to visit Cuddalore but had not given the official sanction for it.

It meant, neither the government officials would receive the team nor would they interact with it.

The team would focus mainly on two issues: whether pollution has threatened food security in the region and whether alienation of agricultural lands for industrial purpose has affected the livelihood of the farmers.

Mr. Gurusamy said his Samaj along with representatives of other farmers' forums, non-governmental organisations and human rights and environmental activists would meet the team and express their anguish over the apathy of the government agencies to implement the pollution control norms.

He said that because of the unscientific disposal of solid waste into the ground and discharge of untreated effluents the livelihood of the people residing in the nearby areas was threatened.

Certain industries were manufacturing chemical products far in excess of the permitted limit. Though the Samaj was not against the growth of industry its primary concern was that it should not be at the cost of the health and well being of the people.

In the context of global warming scarcity of drinking water and food was looming large, and therefore, it had become imperative to protect farm lands from indiscriminate exploitation and to prevent damage to ecology.

President of the United Farmers' Association C. Vaiyapuri and president of the Federation of Cuddalore District Farmers' Associations V. Venkatapathi said that their organisations would broach these subjects to the UN team and would seek to protect the rights of the farming community and the residents.

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