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Greens, trade unions on a collision course over Grasim plant in Kerala

D Jose in Thiruvananthapuram

A confrontation is likely between the environmentalists and trade unions in Kerala with both sections hardening their positions on the question of pollution caused by the Grasim Industries Limited in north Kerala.

Greens have launched a struggle for closure of Grasim after the death of K A Rahman. He died of cancer allegedly caused by the company's effluents discharged into the Chaliyar river. Rahman was known as a crusader against Grasim.

But the trade union leaders have come into the scene against the stir. They obviously have the support of various political parties and the Communist-led government, which is ideologically bound to protect the interest of workers.

The LDF government has been parrying the issue with Chief Minister E K Nayanar even pleading ignorance of the problems in the area in spite of the pro-environment polarisation brought about by the death of Rahman, who had valiantly fought against the Grasim pollution for the past 35 years.

A statement signed by leaders of trade unions of different political affiliations said the demand for closure of the unit could not be simply conceded. The solution for the problems caused by pollution from a factory is not its closure but effective measures to check it, the statement signed by Elamaram Karim of the CITU, Aryadan Mohammad of the INTUC, E T Mohammad Basheer of the STU and K P Rajendran of the AITUC said.

The statement blamed the State Pollution Control Board for not taking effective steps to check the pollution. They said that the pollution by Grasim could effectively be checked if the recommendations of the Dr Sen Gupta Committee appointed by the state government are strictly implemented. It urged the government to enforce these recommendations effectively.

"If the demand for the closure of the unit on the ground of pollution is conceded, many more industries in the state will have to be closed down," the statement said, and added that this would adversely affect the workers.

The environmentalists have got their morale boosted with more than 60 leading personalities from different walks of life rallying behind them in support of their demand for Grasim's closure.

The joint statement issued by the 60 cultural leaders resolved to carry on the campaign of the late K A Rahman and associates against Grasim pollution, which they said had devastated the Vazhakad and Mavoor panchayats.

The signatories to the statement include celebrities such as Justice V R Krishna Iyer, Ali Sardar Jafri, M T Vasudevan Nair, Kovilan, Jayant Mahapatra, O N V Kurup, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Kadammanitta Ramakrishnan, Zacharia and Justice T Chandrashekhara Menon.

The statement has called for financial support from the people to help the victims and to fight legal battles and conduct struggles for getting the unit shut down. "Life has lost its zest from the banks of the Chaliyar river due to the pollution caused by Grasim. The people living on the banks of the river had contracted deadly diseases. The number of children born with diseases has risen. The prevalence of cancer deaths in the area is the highest in the country. Diseases of heart, chest, eyes and brain have risen alarmingly," the statement said.

"One cannot sustain human life after leaving the surroundings of nature so polluted. The right to life of man is part of the right to life of all biological creatures. This realisation is the essence of the humanness of K A Rahman and his associates who have valiantly fought for the last 35 years for this right to life," the statement added.

It has been realised that there was no solution to the problem of pollution without the company stopping production, it said and added that the struggle for the closure of the unit was not against the employees.

The statement said the company, which has been making profits consistently, had the responsibility to pay compensation to the employees and redeploy its resources and employees. The signatories of the statement appealed to the state government to take the initiative to make the company agree with the proposal.

The relay hunger strike being undertaken before the company by the Chaliyar Agitation Council since January 26 has been gaining support from various quarters. The Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad, a powerful Left leaning organisation, has also come out openly demanding the prosecution of the Grasim management for human rights violations.

The organisation noted that the management was not willing to invest part of its profits for pollution abatement even though it was getting several concessions from the government by way of subsidies on raw materials (Rs 55 million per annum), electricity and water (Rs 40 million a year).

The KSSP leaders said the company, which started with assets worth Rs 100 million, had amassed Rs 10 billion in 35 years. Ironically, the company was not even willing to invest a meager Rs 67 million from this for implementing pollution abatement technology proposed by the Engineers India Limited, the KSSP leaders said.

The company, which has been successfully fielding the three-decades-long campaign against it from environmentalists, has already been caught in a tight spot with the Kerala high court dismissing its plea on pollution norms. The court had recently upheld the norms fixed by the Kerala Pollution Control Board regarding the tolerance limit of chemical oxygen demand in the effluents the company discharged into the Chaliyar river.

The company had contended that the limit fixed by the board cannot be achieved as there was no technology or know-how to reduce the COD limits in the effluents to the level suggested by the Pollution Control Board.

The company had also pleaded it was following the same standards it adopted in its units in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh in the Kerala unit and there were no complaints from people in the former two states. The court rejected the plea and asked the unit to strictly adhere to norms fixed by the Pollution Control Board.

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