Number 21 March 2004

FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION ONLY

Global anti-toxic treaty comes IN THIS ISSUE

into force – lags behind 1 LEADER L Global anti-toxic treaty comes into ebruary 17, 2004 was a happy day the convention. The Indian government had force – India lags behind for anyone involved in the fight signed the treaty on 14 May, 2002 but had Fagainst Persistent Organic not ratified it. Chemcials (POPs). France’s ratification of It seems that the Rs 125,000 crore 2 EDITORIAL the Stockholm Convention on this day com- chemical industry has tremendous influence pleted the required 50 signatories for the over the government. The industry had pub- 3 FEATURES Convention to become a legally binding licly asked the government to refrain from L Suryapet: A municipality re-engineers International Convention. ratifying the treaty, according to a press re- SWM Now the Convention will come into force lease of the Indian Chemical Manufactur- L after a 90 day countdown on 17 May, 2004, ers Association issued prior to the Seventh ITC collaborates with NGO for Zero as per Article 26 of the Convention. The Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiat- Waste Management treaty is not only about ridding the world of ing Committee in July 2003. L Hunger, Water, Survival: theme for a a certain class of toxic chemicals but also Our government should see the writing unique film festival about promoting sustainable development. on the wall, and face the future with more This Convention with its ‘sisters’ the Basel reality. It has let down workers in chemical Convention and the Rotterdam Convention factories and the people of India whose 7 UPDATES provides a model for international environ- heatlh and quality of lives is at risk from L White asbestos merchants subvert mental governance and for collaboration POPs. government’s stance amongst multilateral environmental agree- Continued on page 2 L CDM being used to ments. This has been prepared in the con- text of a concept of wastes and chemicals promote burn technologies conventions cluster. in South Asia Though France’s decision needs to be L Unsafe injections in India lauded, India has succumbed to the pres- sure of industries which will be affected by 9 L News 10 L Resources 11 L Forum 12 L Factfile

Toxics Dispatch No 21

td21-eng.pmd 1 5/7/04, 3:13 PM Black Protecting ourselves Continued from page 1 Studies by the United States Environmental Protection Agency from a cleaner world! (USEPA) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer urope is cleaning up. Through a series of new policy (IARC) clearly show that workers in chemical factories are at great Eand legislative initiatives – some of which are so pro- risk of liver, lung and brain cancers, skin tumours and the dissolv- gressive that they even have the Bush Administration wor- ing of bones at the tip of their fingers. ried – the European Union, through its Commission, is re- The treaty seeks to control the production, use, import, export defining ‘clean.’ However, as they get rid of toxics like mer- and disposal of these toxic chemicals, and has established tough cury, pesticides, asbestos, plastics and electronic wastes, will international controls on an initial cluster of 12 chemicals, of which they all end up now in the Indian subcontinent? most are subject to an immediate ban. This ‘rogues gallery’ of It is already happening, and we must ensure that this will chemicals as per the treaty – also called the ‘dirty dozen’ – com- not continue to take place. Paradoxically, we still refuse to prises of aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, protect ourselves by not ratifying legislations like the POPs mirex, toxaphene, polychlorinated biphenols (PCBs), treaty or the Basel Ban, which will protect our public health hexachlorobenzene, dioxins and furans. A POP Review Commit- from such events. tee is yet to consider additional chemicals for the POP list on a Though over the years, Europe has set the pace for how regular basis to ensure that the treaty is responsive to new scientific a ‘clean environment’ is defined, the difference between what findings. Among the dirty dozen only DDT, PCBs and uninten- is clean and not clean is growing rapidly. For example, while tional POPs — that is, dioxins and furans — are relevant to In- we in India do not even have an air emission standard for dia, according to the March 2001 issue of Parivesh, the newsletter mercury from thermal power plants (Indian coal combus- of the Central Pollution Control Board. tion spews mercury all over our agricultural fields), Europe As the name ‘Persistent Organic Pollutants’ implies, once in- has reduced its emissions by over 50 per cent over the past troduced into the environment, either intentionally by industry, as three decades, and is gradually moving to natural gas. Simi- an agrochemical, or unintentionally as a by-product, these chemi- larly, when the mercury based chlor-alkali plants close in cals persist in the environment. They can be atmospherically trans- Europe in 2006, will the 12,000 odd tons of mercury cur- ported to sites far from the site of their introduction – sometimes rently contained be released on the world market, and be across the globe through sea and wind currents. The high solubil- mopped up by leaky Indian chlorine and thermometer plants? ity in non-aqueous media such as fats and oils leads to their high With the new European WEEE directive coming into bioaccumulation in fatty tissue where concentrations can become force this year, which mandates producer responsibility in magnified by up to 70,000 times the background levels. Fish, preda- items like electronic waste and legislates collection and recy- tory birds, mammals, and humans are high up the food chain, and cling, we may see an influx of such hazardous wastes into therefore, they absorb the greatest concentrations of POPs. The India. In fact, we already are. In another far-reaching initia- pollution levels are so high that every human in the world today tive started in October 2003: REACH, involving registra- carries traces of these chemicals in their bodies. POPs are also tion and chemical substitution in products, Europe has threat- highly stable compounds that can last for years (usually decades) ened to put the global chemical industry in the dock, since before breaking down. They circulate globally through a process over 1,00,000 chemicals are being reviewed for health im- known as the ‘grasshopper effect’. POPs released in one part of pacts. It is doubtful if Europe has the monitoring capacity to the world can, through a repeated process of evaporation and depo- ensure that their poisons are not exported, despite their in- sition, be transported through the atmosphere to regions far away. tent to do so. Hence, while on the one hand the Bush ad- Most POPs of international concern are synthetic organo-chlo- ministration is busy diluting environmental norms, which rine compounds, that is, they contain carbon and chlorine. Some includes export controls, which in any case permit such ex- of these chemicals have industrial application, such as the ports from the US, the people of Europe are demanding to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and some are the unintentional be squeaky clean and that too through a ‘prevention is better by-products of industrial operations. than cure’ approach. But neither in the US nor in Europe Governments would now be required to pursue a rapid start to is there a public consciousness that there are other people action under the treaty when they meet for the first session of the too who exist on planet earth, and taking garbage out of Conference of the Parties to the Convention (COP 1) in Punta their systems should not mean putting it in ours! del Este, Uruguay in early 2005. This COP would also establish No longer can we isolate ourselves from this globalisation a committee for evaluating other chemicals and pesticides that could of toxics and wastes. It is up to civil society to be vigilant and be added to the initial target list of 12 POPs. ensure that we do not become the last dumping ground in Another key goal for the COP will be to finalise guidelines for the world. For a start, then, India can ratify the POPs treaty promoting ‘best environmental practices’ and ‘best available tech- and Basel Ban, the one piece of international legislation, niques’ that can reduce or eliminate releases of dioxins and furans that will protect our shores from environmental injustice. (perhaps the most toxic of all the POPs) from a wide range of Ravi Agarwal industrial and other sources. Most of the 12 chemicals will be banned immediately. How-

Toxics Dispatch No 21 2

td21-eng.pmd 2 5/7/04, 3:13 PM Black through selling recyclables. For this to happen, consensus was reached to make primary segregation at the Suryapet: A household level compulsory. Household segregation required widespread public municipality re- participation. It was realised that such par- ticipation could best be obtained through engineers SWM an early, and effective, public education pro- rom a small town, spread over a mea- gramme. In January 2003, the municipal- Fgre 34 square kilometers, comes a story ity launched an extensive public education that could transform the entire sub-conti- programme designed and initiated by the nent. municipal staff in partnership with Suryapet, situated in the Nalgonda dis- DWRCA. trict of Andhra Pradesh, with a population The awareness program had in its IEC ever, the use of DDT for disease vector con- of 1,03,000 is another medium-sized non- toolkit initiatives including street corner trol under World Health Organization descript town dotting the urban landscape meetings, street plays, distribution of pam- guidelines is considered an acceptable pur- of Andhra Pradesh. phlets, message stickers, door-to-door visits pose because it is essential in many coun- This inconspicuous town does not boast by groups of 5-6 women volunteers apply- tries to control malaria transmission by mos- of any great economic enterprise or of a ing a vermillion tilak on the forehead of each quitoes. This will permit governments to swanky urban infrastructure. However, resident along with disseminating informa- protect their citizens from malaria – a ma- Suryapet’s claim to fame lies in the efficient tion on primary segregation of municipal jor killer – until they are able to replace and effective solution to its solid waste man- waste. For the first time, the citizens of the DDT with chemical and non-chemical al- agement (SWM) problem which many of city were pleasantly surprised to witness their ternatives. its better-endowed sister cities in the state municipality in a proactive mode. In addition to banning uses, the treaty or the country are yet to comprehend. The street meetings combined the top- focuses on cleaning up the growing accu- Suryapet is credited to have taken steps of-the-mind civic problems of the citizens mulation of unwanted and obsolete stock- for SWM much before Municipal Solid with the benefits of waste segregation at piles of pesticides and toxic chemicals. Waste (Management & Handling) Rules, source. The meetings would typically dis- Dump sites and toxic drums from the 2000 became mandatory for municipalities. cuss issues including the right age for mar- 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s are now decaying and Suryapet’s success story begins in De- riage, compulsory education, importance of leaching chemicals into the soil and poison- cember, 2002, when the newly appointed adult education, reasons for the spread of ing water resources, wildlife and people. Municipal Commissioner set about finding communicable diseases, implementation of In the case of PCBs, although they are a solution to the not-so-clean town. To man- RCH programmes, problems of child la- no longer produced, hundreds of thousands age the solid waste of the city, the munici- bour, etc. While the lead issues were used of tons are still in use in electrical transform- pality took up the responsibility of turning to gain the attention, the benefits of source ers and other equipment. Governments have organic waste into compost and earning segregation of solid waste was factored into until 2025 to phase out these uses, which gives them time to arrange for PCB-free replacements. Not later than 2028, govern- ments must dispose of these PCBs in an environmentally sound manner. The Stockholm Convention holds the promise of a POPs-free world for future generations. Now it is incumbent upon our government to take cognisance, and to act swiftly through a ratification of the Conven- tion. One wonders why the government is giving precedence to the formulation of a National Environment Policy instead of ratifying the Stockholm Convention, espe- cially in the backdrop of the Joint Parlia- mentary Committee’s report on chemicals and the food safety case in the apex court. Perhaps better sense will prevail after France’s decision. Gopal Krishna Door to door mobilisation by a team of municipal staff and ward councillors.

3 Toxics Dispatch No 21

td21-eng.pmd 3 5/7/04, 3:13 PM Black sources, the efforts were paying off – Suryapet was about to achieve a momen- tous milestone of being the first city free of municipal dhalaos. Today, the majority of the households in Suryapet are segregating garbage at source. The figure is estimated to reach 100 per cent by June 2004. The town is divided into seven zones with one tractor accompanied by sanitary personnel servicing each zone. On enter- ing a lane at a designated time the tractor sounds a whistle, which is an indication for the households to come out and handover their respective pair of dustbins to the mu- nicipal staff, who, in turn, dispose off it into the tractor. With door-to-door waste collec- tion in place, the municipality has been able to remove 360 roadside dustbins (an ac- tion which doesn’t have many precedents). Manure being prepared from the organic waste. made by the municipality-citizen alliance. Approximately 28 tons of organic waste Group meetings and meditation programs is sent to the composting site daily. The the discussions. The link between solid were organised for different levels of the municipality intends to use the manure, waste management and household well-be- municipal sanitation staff. approximately 10 tons, to maintain the city’s ing was reiterated by illustrating reduction Effort was also made to provide salaries green areas. The recyclables have earned in household expenditure on medical serv- and other service benefits in time. Small the municipality a revenue of Rs. 26,000 ices emanating from better management of innovations such as long-stick brooms were in the previous year. The door-to-door col- solid waste and resulting in lower incidence provided which do not require squatting lection has led to less blocking of drains and of communicable diseases. while cleaning streets. Uniforms were also littering of streets, enabling the sanitation Apart from households, other targeted provided to the staff. These small, but im- staff to be allocated for garbage collection segments for the IEC campaigns included portant, initiatives had a great impact on effort. school children, fish and vegetable market the self-esteem and self-worth of the officials Suryapet has transformed itself into a associations, hawkers and pavement dwell- and staff manning the Suryapet municipali- much cleaner city in a year and a half. One ers. Along with soliciting voluntary compli- ty’s Sanitation Department. The Sanita- positive ramification has been an improved ance through creating awareness, the tion Department underwent a transforma- image of the municipality in the eyes of the Suryapet municipality used the provisions tion from being a part of the problem to be- citizens. of the Municipal Act to penalise (mostly coming a contributor to the solution. House tax collection is reported to have commercial establishments) for littering. While the zeal to transform is the imme- gone up and the municipal staff has achieved The message was clear that the municipal- diate precursor for reform, continuous avail- a higher social esteem amongst the residents ity was serious in its efforts to clean up ability of resources had been ensured to sus- of the town. Dustbins hung from streetlight Suryapet. Citizens were slowly realising that tain the effort. poles have been provided for the passerby SWM was a major civic issue, the solution Municipalities (including Suryapet) are to dump litter. The cleanliness of the to which lay in collective action. not known to have enough resources to take Suryapet town is apparent even to a casual While awareness and willingness of the up new initiatives. The Suryapet Munici- visitor. It is devoid of huge garbage dumps citizens for segregation of waste represented pality tapped many non-traditional sources overflowing from municipal dustbins, one of the variables in the SWM model of of fund. The Andhra Pradesh Scheduled clogged drains or an unsavoury stench per- Suryapet, another important requirement Caste Cooperative Finance Corporation meating from garbage dumped at was the willingness and ability of the mu- provided loans at a low rate of interest for undesignated locations, a site so very famil- nicipal sanitation workforce to capitalise on vermin-compost sheds. The private sector iar in most towns in the country. the interest of the households in segrega- supplemented the municipal resources by Suryapet might still remain a little- tion and cleanliness. The municipal sanita- providing sets of dustbins (8,000 pairs of known small town, but the aforesaid effort tion workforce in Suryapet is not particu- red bins for recyclables and green bins for has surely made Suryapet a better place to larly known for its efficiency and regularity organic waste), which were distributed to live in. in discharging its duty. It was realised that the households free of cost. With increased (Data for this story has been provided an unresponsive sanitation workforce could awareness of the citizens, willingness of the by Commissioner, Suryapet Municipalily, potentially derail the SWM effort being municipal staff and the availability of re- Suryapet, Andhra Pradesh)

Toxics Dispatch No 21 4

td21-eng.pmd 4 5/7/04, 3:13 PM Black ITC collaborates with NGO for Zero Waste Management

ndian Tobacco Corporation (ITC) reclaim the landfill site. ITC’s solid waste ILimited has started a successful management initiative was backed by an segregation and composting initiative at extensive public education programme its housing campus at Bhadrachalam, wherein the residents of the campus were situated 300 kilometres from Hyderabad, told about the benefits of waste segrega- Andhra Pradesh. This is one of the few tion. successful examples of a corporate Besides demonstrating a corporate zero-waste initiative. concern for the environment, this step has Prior to starting the zero waste initiative, proven to be technically viable. Garbage the garbage (2.3 tons/annum) generated becomes the source of manure for by approximately 850 residential units, campus parks while the sale of recyclables bachelor hostels, guesthouse, club, etc, team of six ‘street beautifiers’, who are on the yields revenues. Further, valuable land, situated at the residential campus was rolls of ITC. This designated team, through which was earlier designated as a landfill being dumped at a designated landfill specially designed rickshaws, evacuates the is now available for alternative land use. site within the ITC factory premises. garbage to the Zero Waste Management Large corporate residential campuses, by Initiated in 2000, in collaboration with Centre. At the centre, a segregation team adopting the zero waste model, can Sukuki-Exnora, the zero waste project comprising of two employees further generate returns from garbage that can promotes segregation of garbage at segregates the waste. The wet garbage is make landfill sites redundant. This, other source. This is enabled by providing vermi-composted and the manure is used for than the monetary rewards, also boosts each household with dustbins, which has the parks and gardens of the campus. The the image/brand equity of the company by three compartments, one for dry waste recyclables are sold and generate an income demonstrating its commitment to (paper, plastics, etc), wet waste of about Rs. 6,000 per month. The hazardous environmental concerns. (vegetables, food waste, etc) and one for waste is buried in concrete-lined safety (The data for this story has been provided hazardous waste (including dry cells, disposal pits. With all the solid waste taken by Maintenance Officer, ITC Residential fused bulbs, etc). care of, the landfill site has now become Campus, Bhadrachalam, Andhra Pradesh) This segregated waste is collected by a redundant and efforts are being made to Tanya Sen Gupta

or green or as a separate category which like Quotes from the Earth and mentioned Hunger, Water, can be managed in isolation, without ad- that the Government of India was review- Survival: theme for a dressing its complex interlinkages. “We ing and reframing the country’s corpus of need to face the complex reality of the envi- environmental laws. At the end of his key- unique film festival ronmental challenges of our country and its note, Soli J. Sorabjee, along with Ravi people and films are an excellent way to do Agarwal and Pradip Saha, lit the lamp sym- oxics Link, in collaboration with India that”, says Ravi Agarwal, Director, Toxics bolising the event’s launch. Guests walked TInternational Centre, organised Quotes Link. around the audio and video installation and from the Earth, a festival of films on the en- On January 21, at 6.30 pm, 50 to 60 interacted over a cup of tea and snacks. vironment, at India International Centre, people gathered at the India International On the morning of January 22, a small New Delhi from January 22-24, 2004. Centre’s Art Gallery, where the Quotes from audience had gathered to hear Ravi The festival was an attempt to highlight the Earth film festival along with ‘Audio Agarwal’s introductory keynote and to view the environmental challenges faced by peo- Installation in a Visual Sauce’, the media films on the subject of ‘Water’. The award- ple all over India, through the powerful space designed by Pradip Saha, Designer, winning documentary film ‘Chaliyar… the medium of films, with a focus on Hunger, Photographer and Managing Editor of final struggle’, by P. Baburaj and C. Water and Survival. Down to Earth magazine was to be inaugu- Saratchandran, looked into the issue of in- Most of us have come to understand the rated by Attorney General Soli J. Sorabjee. dustrial pollution, through the case of vil- word environment as either meaning clean Mr Soli J. Sorabjee praised initiatives lagers fighting against a paper mill which

5 Toxics Dispatch No 21

td21-eng.pmd 5 5/7/04, 3:13 PM Black has been releasing toxic effluents in the river Chaliyar, Kerala, for the past 40 years, let- ting the river and its people die. The freshly released ‘Hunting down water’, by Sanjay Barnela and Vasant Saberwal, examined water distribution and its usage patterns in rural and urban India, while teaching the Indian urban middle-class a lesson on who is actually paying the price of their comfort- able existence. Other films focused on traditional water harvesting systems (Award-winning ‘Marubhumi’ by Amar Kanwar) and on the major issue of big dams and displacements of population in the Narmada Valley, and the resistance move- ment organised by the Narmada Bachao Andolan. By the time the panel discussion started, about 40 people were present in the audi- The film festival, held at the India International Centre, was part of its Annual Day celebrations. torium to listen to Ramaswamy Iyer, former Union Water Resources Secretary, Manjira Datta, which had been made for (‘Suits and Savages’, by British filmmak- Chittaroopa (Sylvie) Palit of Narmada the Rio Conference, 1992; and the award- ers Zoe Young and Dylan Howitt; ‘The Bachao Andolan and Rohit Prajapati of winning ‘Harvesting Hunger’, by Turtle People’, by Surabhi Sharma; ‘De- Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. Dr Krishnendu Bose. velopment flows from the barrel of the gun’ Sudhirendar Sharma, a former World Bank The films also looked into the issues of by Biju Toppo and Meghnath, multi award- water expert, moderated the discussion. genetically modified crops and traditionally winning ‘Buddha weeps in Jadugoda’, by In the evening, a captivated audience saw sustainable agriculture (‘Deconstructing Shriprakash, and so on). the beautiful long-length documentary film Supper’ by Canadian filmmaker Marianne Amar Kanwar, independent filmmaker, ‘Sand and Water’, by Bangladeshi film- Kaplan; ‘Why are Warangal farmers an- moderated the discussion on repression, maker Shaheen Dill-Riaz; an encounter gry with BT cotton?’, ‘Mobile biodiversity which had four speakers: Shekhar Singh, with a people who live on a group of tiny festival 2002’, made by Dalit women farm- Honorary Director, Centre for Equity Stud- islands on the river Jamuna, in North Bang- ers and filmmakers from the Deccan Devel- ies and representative of the National Cam- ladesh, in spite of the harshness of this en- opment Society, Andhra Pradesh). Film- paign for the People’s Right to Information, vironment. maker Sagari Chhabra, in ‘Hunger in the Anand Mazgaonkar, Gujarat-based activ- January 23 focused on the issue of ‘Hun- time of plenty’, examined the reality of hun- ist from Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti, ger’ through films questioning food safety ger in the country, at a time when millions Sudhir Pattnaik, Chairman of the Orissa- and food security. The impact of the heavy of tons of grains are rotting in governmen- based Independent Media and Meghnath, use of pesticides on Indian agriculture, par- tal storages. filmmaker and social activist from Akhra, a ticularly on small farmers and the threat In the afternoon, Harsh Mander, Direc- -based organisation. represented by biotechnologies, was one cru- tor, ActionAid India and P.V. Satheesh, Baraka, by Ron Fricke, offered a breath- cial theme. This included films such as Director, Deccan Development Society, led ing space to the audience through its stun- ‘Seeds of Plenty, Seeds of Sorrow’, by the discussion on hunger issues. ning images of our world, in its diversity The people who watched ‘Do Bigha and various levels of sanity. It was a wel- Zameen’ in the evening, filmed by Bimal comed space after a very intense day of Roy in 1953, depicting the exploitation of screenings and discussion denouncing in- small farmers, were shocked to discover that justice, rights’ violations and state repres- the situation has not changed much since sion. then! The public’s reaction to the festival was Films shown on January 24 focused on very encouraging. People praised the rel- the issue of ‘Survival’ and ‘Repression’, and evance of the films, the function and the particularly on the impact of industrial importance of giving space to such issues. projects on local communities and on the Moreover, many groups and individuals violent State’s response to people’s resist- expressed their interest in holding the film ance to this ‘occupation’ of their land and festival in other parts of the country. The panel discussion on ‘Repression’. the take-over of their natural resources Aurelie de Lalande

Toxics Dispatch No 21 6

td21-eng.pmd 6 5/7/04, 3:13 PM Black tos and has passed directives against the use WTE UPDATE of asbestos sheets in low-income housing. In India, white asbestos is used mainly CDM being used to ASBESTOS UPDATE for water pipes or as roofing sheets in the construction industry. Asbestos dust may promote burn technologies White asbestos merchants be inhaled while drilling a hole, cutting a in South Asia subvert government’s stance pipe, repairing, renovating or demolishing a building. Its effects are far-reaching, af- he South Asian Forum on the Clean inister for Health and Safety, UK, fecting everyone from the person mining it TDevelopment Mechanism (CDM) MNick Brown, signed a Statutory In- to the ultimate consumer. Clinical reports was organised by Tata Energy Research strument on October 31, 2002 saying: “As- show that asbestosis, mesothelioma or lung Insititute (TERI) with the World Bank and bestos is the most serious occupational cancer can show up even 25-40 years after International Emissions Trading Associa- health problem – in terms of fatal disease – exposure to asbestos. tion from February 2-4, 2004 in New that the country faces, and it results in much On August 18, 2003, Union Minister Delhi. The Forum was sponsored by the human suffering and misery. These regula- for Health and Family Welfare, and Parlia- World Business Council for Sustainable tions will do much to prevent exposure to- mentary Affairs, Sushma Swaraj, said in Development (WBCSD), Canada’s CDM day, and illness and death in the future.” the Rajya Sabha: “Studies by the National & JI Office, the Japan Bank for Interna- 2003 saw the global movement against Institute of Occupational Health, tional Cooperation (JBIC), SGS, and the asbestos gaining ground. The latest coun- Ahmedabad, have shown that long-term Asian Development Bank (ADB). tries to ban asbestos are Japan and Aus- exposure to any type of asbestos can lead to CDM is mentioned in Article 12 of the tralia. Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour the development of asbestosis, lung cancer Kyoto Protocol which deals with climate and Welfare announced that asbestos would and mesothelioma.” change. Climate change refers to a statisti- not be manufactured, imported, transferred, Although this clearly implies that white cally significant variation in either the mean provided or used by the country starting asbestos is hazardous, the Indian govern- state of the climate or in its variability, per- October 1, 2004. Australia has banned all ment representatives, astonishingly, objected sisting for an extended period due to increas- new uses of asbestos and materials contain- to the extension of prior informed consent ing emissions of greenhouse gases such as ing asbestos, from December 31, 2003. to cover white asbestos as a substance sub- carbon dioxide, methane and chlorofluoro- ject to trade control, at the Rotterdam Prior carbons. As the earth’s surface temperature The Indian situation Informed Consent (PIC) Convention in increases, weather patterns also change to In India, however, it’s a different story Geneva held between November 17-21, the detriment of the ecological balance. altogether. White asbestos continues to be 2003. India joined Canada, which exports This implies severe, unforeseen weather used extensively, although other kinds of more than 95 per cent of all the asbestos it changes resulting in all-round destruction asbestos such as blue and brown asbestos produces (most of it to India) to scuttle at- in the form of the melting of polar ice caps, are banned. Even as the demand for a glo- tempts to include it in the international list frequent storms, floods, and expansion of bal ban on all forms of asbestos was made of chemicals under the Convention. seawater resulting in the inundation of low- at the World Social Forum, in lying areas and islands. January 2004, the government Alternatives and a national ban CDM enables developing countries to pursues its request to the Union Rural There is no single product in day-to-day participate in joint Greenhouse Gas Development Ministry for permission to lay use at work, or at home, that needs to be (GHG) mitigation projects. Under this asbestos sheets under the Innovative Scheme made from asbestos. Still, over 3,000 Protocol, Annex I countries (developed for Rural Housing and Development. workplace and home-based products con- countries and economies in transition) are Unlike Maharashtra’s notorious request, tain this substance. Cellulose fibre, PVA required to reduce GHG emissions to be- Goa seems to be on the right track. It has fibre, clay, stone tiles and steel are all sub- low their 1990 levels. recognised the carcinogenic effects of asbes- stitutes for asbestos. Although expensive at Unfortunately, CDM is being used to first, they work out cheaper in the long run promote non-renewable technologies as because of their long life. renewable under the influence of the World If the Indian government is concerned Bank Group and the Waste Industry, which about the health of its citizens it must ap- have vested corporate interests and are prove alternatives to asbestos, especially for unmindful of the severe negative effects. roofing. To begin with, the Ministry of In- Resource Incineration Projects (referred dustry must put back asbestos under the list to as Waste to Energy) are being pushed as of industries requiring compulsory licens- a Renewable Energy Technology (RET) ing and subsequently pursue a plan to ban under the CDM. If this trend is allowed to it. A campaign should also be launched to continue, it will be a setback to the anti-in- make all government buildings asbestos-free. cineration campaign worldwide. Gopal Krishna Gopal Krishna

7 Toxics Dispatch No 21

td21-eng.pmd 7 5/7/04, 3:13 PM Black MEDWASTE UPDATE judged on both major and minor criterion MSW UPDATE set by the government. The major criteria included the use of Unsafe injections in India opened/used syringes and needles, injec- Look out for these bins report on injection practices in India, tions given over clothes, needles wiped with Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Asubmitted to the Ministry of Health a swab, needles touching any surface be- Handling) Rules, 2000, which were to be in February, shows that two-thirds of the fore use, or use of one syringe needle for injections (around 65%) used in medical more than one patient. implemented from January 1, 2004 have practices are unsafe. finally been initiated in Delhi. The MCD In other words the country may be look- Findings of the study has placed two coloured bins at common L ing at 20,00,000 new Hepatitis B cases, About 23.8 per cent of the injections market places. Green bins are meant for 4,00,000 new Hepatitis C cases and administered were unsafe due to ‘ques- 30,000 new HIV-positive cases every year. tionable sterility’ while re-use of injec- organic waste, while blue bins are meant The report was prepared by the Indian tion syringes was placed second at 16.2 for inorganic (recyclable) waste. The need branch of InCLEN, an international or- per cent of the cases. But in most cases of the hour is to raise awareness amongst ganization, and was sponsored by the World (50.7), the danger crept in from wrong the people about waste segregation at Bank. The Clinical Epidemiology Unit of injection habits. AIIMS and the Ministry of Health and L Government hospitals (68.6 per cent) source, its importance and its long-term Family Welfare were partners in the study. and immunisation clinics (73.9 per cent) implications. The consequences are especially serious are more likely to be unsafe. But the pri- for India as the magnitude of injection ad- vate facilities are only a little better, at Work initiated without ministration is very high in the country: an 59.7 per cent. government help L average of three injections per person per Glass syringes (81.1 per cent) are more The Musiri town panchayat in Tiruchy year. It is highest in the below one year age unsafe than plastic ones. group (5.8), mostly vaccinations, and a lit- L In goverment hospitals, 95.1 per cent of district will be the first semi-urban tle less above one years of age (around 2.8). the injections are given by pharmacists habitation in Tamil Nadu to undertake a According to the Health Ministry, the or nurses, health workers or compound- sanitation programme to utilise existing study had four main aims: to assess the fre- ers, 6.4 per cent by helper trainees or solid and liquid waste to earn revenue for quency of injections in India; to determine assistants, and only 8.2 per cent by doc- what proportion was unsafe; what propor- tors or prescribers. In private hospitals, the local body. tion was not required; and what determined however, 61 per cent of the injections A local NGO called SCOPE, headed by Mr the use of injections in the country. “The are given by doctors. N Subhuraman, has undertaken a three- methodology used was a population-based Based on the study findings, an expla- year project in the area. The need was survey and a health facilities-based survey”, nation was demanded in the Parliament said an official. Unsafe injections were from the Ministry of Health & Family Wel- realised as the 4.5 acre dumping yard fare on the remedial action being taken by started overflowing with waste. the government. The project will undertake a Total The Minister of State replied that crea- Sanitation Programme (TSP) for the rural tion of awareness in respect of proper and scientific use and disposal of syringes is an area. This will include the five-point on-going process and that the government programme of solid waste management, has initiated steps like inclusion of use of construction of individual toilets, sterilised syringes and needles in all aware- construction of community toilets, waste ness campaigns of the National AIDS Con- trol Programme. water management and inculcation of Needle cutters are being supplied to vari- personal hygiene habits. ous government hospitals through State The project has received the full support AIDS Control Societies. As per the minis- of local councillors. The residents are ter, pressure cooker sterilisers as well as as- sistance to procure fuel is being provided to willing to extend their cooperation and are all government health facilities. The minis- also ready to pay a fee of Rs 30 a month. ter also said that the government is actively Waste collectors were imparted training considering introduction of auto-disable sy- over a two-day period during which they ringes for the immunisation programme in studied best practices in Vellore. Immunisation drives lead to a large quantity of a phased manner. biomedical waste being generated. Ratna Singh Indrajeet Rai

Toxics Dispatch No 21 8

td21-eng.pmd 8 5/7/04, 3:13 PM Black Rotterdam Convention on harmed or killed people and damaged the environment”, said Klaus Töpfer, Execu- chemicals comes into force Does India need to use more tive Director of the UN Environment Pro- An international treaty that will help gramme (UNEP). plastics? developing countries like India avoid being The Convention has been implemented According to an article published by dumped with hazardous chemicals or pesti- on a voluntary basis since September 1998 Srinjoy Chowdhury in The Statesman, New cides has come into effect. in the form of the interim Prior Informed Delhi, February 9, 2004, the Chemical and This treaty will particularly help to check Consent (PIC) procedure. India is part of Fertilizers Ministry is setting up a commit- trade of “many pesticides that have been the PIC Asia region but is not among 73 tee to find ways for enhanced use of plastic banned or restricted in industrialised coun- signatories to the Convention. in the construction industry. As per the gov- tries but are still being marketed in devel- The Convention lists 22 hazardous pes- ernment’s plan: oping countries”, a UN agency said. ticides and five chemicals. As many as 15 L An expert committee will be set up to Known as the Rotterdam Convention, more pesticides and industrial chemicals, promote the use of plastics in the con- “the treaty’s requirements for labelling and identified during the interim PIC procedure, struction industry. providing buyers with information on po- are flagged for inclusion at the first meeting L A Plastic Development Council will be tential health and environmental effects will of the Conference of the Parties to the con- constituted at the national level. It is sup- promote the safer use of chemicals”, accord- vention in Geneva in September 20-24, posed to administer the Plastic Technol- ing to the UN Food and Agriculture Or- 2004. ogy Development Fund. ganisation (FAO). These include a range of highly toxic The treaty, which came into effect on pesticides that are being traded globally such February 24, 2004, “will enable develop- as parathion and monocrotophos, as well ing countries to avoid many of the mistakes as five additional forms of asbestos, includ- made in richer countries, where the misuse ing chrysotile asbestos, which accounts for of chemicals and pesticides has too often over 90 percent of asbestos used and traded. Papiya Sarkar

Public smokers watch out! According to WHO findings tobacco kills almost five million people each year. If the present trend continues, it is estimated to kill 10 million people a year by 2020. The most alarming fact is that about 70 per Ragpickers segregating plastic waste. cent of these deaths will occur in develop- The plan was born in response to the ing countries. report of a government task force which The Bellagio statement on tobacco and found that India’s per capita use of poly- sustainable development emphasises that “in ing tobacco use in the country laws will have mers is very low in comparison to the devel- the developing world tobacco poses a ma- to conform to it. oped countries, even China. For the record, jor challenge, not just to health, but also to The State Assembly passed an Act at present India’s per capita use of plastics social and economic development and to which bans smoking in public places on is 3.6 kg, whereas in China and the rest of environmental sustainability.” March 10, 2003. Soon after that, on April the world it is 16.4 kg and 24.6 kg respec- In May 2003, the member countries of 9, the Parliament passed a much more com- tively. In order to catch up with the world, the World Health Organization adopted a prehensive Act regulating all use, trade and the government, in its wisdom, plans to in- historic tobacco control treaty, the Frame- advertisement of tobacco products. How- crease our per capita use of plastics to 12 work Convention on Tobacco Control ever, rules for executing either of the Acts kg by 2010. (FCTC), which has the potential to reduce have still not been announced. Construction hs been the fastest grow- this terrible toll. The recent heartening news is that the ing sector in India during the 1990s and is The Central Health Ministry ratified Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act expected to continue to be so in this decade WHO’s FCTC on February 5, 2004. will come into effect from May 1, 2004. as well. The construction industry is there- With this ratification it will become legally According to the Health Minister, Sushma fore the perfect sector to promote the guar- binding for the Central Government as well Swaraj, the Act will enforce a total ban on anteed use of plastics in India. The health as the State Governments to make laws tobacco advertisements (including surrogate hazards of working in the construction in- against tobacco use, trade and advertise- advertisements), smoking in public places dustry are well-documented. Now the work- ment. It will become compulsory to abide and selling cigarettes to children below 18 ers will be exposed to newer health hazards. by the guidelines of the FCTC and all other years. Indrajeet Rai legislations and already existing laws regard- Papiya Sarkar

9 Toxics Dispatch No 21

td21-eng.pmd 9 5/7/04, 3:13 PM Black News from Chennai L Marubhumi, Amar Kanwar, Hindi with English subtitles, 52 minutes, 1995 L L Fly ash in bricks GREENPEACE HIL REPORT Hunting down water, Sanjay Barnela The Hindu, January 30, 2004: Follow- and Vasant Saberwal, English, 32 min- Environmental pollution from industrial ing an order passed by the Union Ministry utes, 2003 effluents is a common occurrence the world of Environment and Forests, it is now man- L Rainwater harvesting spot, (Public serv- over. It is the price one has to pay at the datory for clay brick, tile and block manu- ice advertisement), Nandita Das and altar of so-called progress and development. facturing units within a 100 kilometre ra- Amartya Sen, 1 minute and 30 seconds, In 1999, Greenpeace conducted a sur- dius of a thermal power plant to mix at least 2003 vey of pollution related with the Hindustan 25 per cent ash by weight with the clay in L Chaliyar, the final struggle, P Baburaj Insecticides Ltd (HIL) factory. It docu- the manufacturing process. The order comes and C Saratchandran, English/ mented severe contamination of nearby into force immediately for units within a 50 Malayalam, 31 minutes, 1999 creeks with organochlorine pollutants dis- kilometre radius of thermal power plants. L A valley refuses to die, K P Sasi, Eng- charged by HIL. A further study was con- lish, 41 minutes, 1989 ducted in 2002, to see status of the envi- L Words on water, Sanjay Kak, English, ronmental pollution. Samples were analysed 85 minutes, 2002 at the Greenpeace Research Laboratories L Seeds of plenty, seeds of sorrow, Manjira at the University of Exeter, UK. Sediments Datta, 53 minutes, 1992 contained between 20 and 37 identifiable L Why are Warangal farmers angry with organochlorines as well as numerous hydro- Bt cotton? DDS Community Media carbons. Trust, Telugu/English, 24 minutes, In addition to the organic pollutants, 2003, concentrations of metallic elements (mer- L Mobile biodiversity festival 2002, A fly ash brick manufacturing unit. cury, copper and zinc) were also found. The Vijendra Patil and P V Satheesh, study reveals that all these metals are also Telugu/English, 13 minutes, 2002 L Ban the burn entering the Periyar River via the creeks. L Meals ready, Surajit Sarkar, Vani The New Indian Express, January 1, Apart from HIL, at least three of the neigh- Subramanian, English/Tamil, l46 min- 2004: The Chennai High Court has ruled bouring industrial plants might be discharg- utes, 1996 that only old wood and cow dung cakes ing these metallic elements. L Harvesting hunger, Krishnendu Bose, should be allowed to be burnt during Bhogi This study throws light on the serious English, 53 minutes, 2000 festival. This was a result of a public inter- pollution of the creeks of the island of Eloor L Hunger in the time of plenty, Sagari est petition from Exnora seeking a ban on with toxic and persistent organic and inor- Chhabra, English, 30 minutes, 2003 burning of tyres, plastics, clothes and oil ganic compounds. It is feared that many of L Suits and savages – Why the World waste on Bhogi day. these contaminants will enter the food chain Bank won’t save the world, Dylan and may contaminate locally produced food. L Chennai Corporation pulled up Howitt, Zoe Young, 2000, 38 minutes, The study suggests that to improve the situ- The New Indian Express, January 14, English. ation, the Indian government needs to phase 2004: Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board L Aamakaar – the turtle people, Surabhi out DDT production and put in place meas- pulled up Chennai Corporation by issuing Sharma, English, 76 minutes, 2002 ures to eliminate the sources of the other a show cause notice for not implementing L Voices from Baliapal, Ranjan Palit and pollutants. the Municipal Solid Waste Management Vasudha Joshi, Hindi, 43 minutes, 1984 Papiya Sarkar Rules, 2000. L Buddha weeps in Jadugoda, Shri Prakash, English/Hindi, 55 minutes, L Plastic wastes to eco-friendly ‘QUOTES FROM THE EARTH’ 1999 mats FILM FESTIVAL L The New Indian Express, January 5, The many faces of madness, Amar It was heartening to get requests for the Kanwar, English/Hindi, 18 minutes, 2004: Plastic wastes collected from a tour- film festival package even as the festival was 2000 ist spot near Coimbatore are washed, dried, L and woven by tribal women into mats, car- being screened. Development flows through the barrel of The film festival package can be bor- the gun, Meghnath and Biju Toppo, pets and bags. This program is part of the rowed for the organisation of similar events Hindi/English, 56 minutes, 2003. Environmental Youth Enterprises of Cen- tre for Environment Education. all over the country. The organising institu- For more information regarding the tion will have to cover the courier costs and ‘Quotes from the Earth’ film festival travel- L Eco-city provide a nominal safety deposit. ling package, please write to Ruchita The Financial Express, January 11, The following films are available as a Khurana, at [email protected]. 2004: For the first time in the country, an film-festival package or individually as part You can also view details of the films at environment management plan is to be im- of the Toxics Link film library inter-loan www.toxicslink.org/earthquotes/ plemented for a town in Kanchipuram. service:

Toxics Dispatch No 21 10

td21-eng.pmd 10 5/7/04, 3:13 PM Black INTERLINKING RIVERS: CON- the township sewer of Talcher Super Ther- TRADICTIONS & CONFRONTA- mal Power Plant (TSTPP). Presently the TSTPP township is discharging its waste TIONS Saving the Brahmani through the rivulet Tikira – which drains in to the Samal barrage. As a result of this river from corporates sewer the water quality of Samal barrage is Presently, the river Brahmani – one of the deteriorating. Downstream from Samal bar- four perennial rivers of the country – is be- rage, at Kamalang – the confluence point ing systematically throttled by overuse. of river Nandira and Brahmani – the mighty A river’s water is used in many ways: as industries and mines of Angul-Talcher area a source of water for drinking, bathing and convert the water of river Brahmani in to for other day to-day uses; for pisciculture, D-class again. irrigation; for running industries as well as One wonders if the water quality down- draining industrial effluents; as a supply of stream of Kamalang can be classified as D- After the world’s worst industrial dis- water for urban bodies, power generation, class as fishes are not able to survive in the aster, India, it seems, now wishes to break etc. A river is a common resource. Many water here. its own record of man-made calamities are its users and multi-faceted are its uses. Nandira is the name of a dead river – through the interlinking of rivers. Among the users of a river are the villagers killed by the mighty industries and mines of The proposed interlinking of rivers living on its bank, fishermen, farmers, civic Angul-Talcher area and converted in to a project seeks to teach the world what not to bodies, industrial houses, power generation huge industrial drain. And Brahmani is one do with one’s river systems. One must be corporations, and many others. of the most polluted rivers of the country. warned that that rewriting geography is not Some of the uses of the river are in con- The way things are proceeding, soon Tikira the same as rewriting history, which the tradiction with each other. But to regulate will also go the way of river Nandira. As present ruling establishment has initiated. this there is the unwritten principle of re- Nandira drains into Brahmani, eventually Unlike all civil society movements in the specting the rights of other users as the pre- both rivers will rot. past, this book captures the spirit and es- condition for using any such common prop- We have reasons to believe that this state sence of the debate underway as a pre- erty resource. would be of great benefit to the industrial emptive strategy to seek democratic account- The benign Brahmani river, on theother houses of the area. ability from the Indian Government. The hand, has become everybody’s property, but Earlier only a few stretches of the river title of the book, Interlinking Rivers: Con- no body takes care of it. Right from were polluted (degraded to D-class), but tradictions & Confrontations, is an attempt Vedavyas, till its confluence, the river is used after the NALCO’s ash-pond tragedy the by the civil society to counter the misinfor- and misused by people and industrial houses whole stretch of the river downstream from mation in the corporate controlled media alike. Kamalang has been polluted. The villagers on the issue. At Panposh, good quality water is drawn are not able to use the water for drinking, The debate started out of the amazement for the Rourkela Steel Plant, the steel town- bathing and other day-to-day uses, fisher- at the incorrect news reports about the citi- ship and the civil township. In return, men can not fish, the farmers have suffered zen’s viewpoint, which appeared in the Brahmani receives industrial effluents of the because of the failure of irrigation points. newspapers following the Civil Society Dia- steel plant and the sewer of the civil town- The whole riverbed of Brahmani is silted logue in February 2003 in New Delhi. ship. up with fly-ash deposits. Now she is not use- Thankfully, there has been no progress Immediately after the discharge of efflu- ful to any user other than the industries so far on the proposed mega-initiative of the ents and sewers into the river at Rourkela draining out its effluents into it. And for Government of India but a group of about the water quality turns in to D-class water this criminal act, have NALCO authori- 1,000 individuals and organisations have which is only fit for fish and wildlife propa- ties apologised to the people of Orissa? come together out of a deep concern for the gation. They have maimed the river and continue ecological threat. This unprecedented de- By the time the water reaches Bonei, 65 to do so. bate has made a significant contribution in km downstream, the river is able to purify Brahmani, the lifeline of millions, is de- shaping and influencing public opinion since the water to a great extent (partially due to teriorating at a rapid rate. This deteriora- March 2003. The participants in the dis- natural processes and partly because of the tion is due to the failure of a few, powerful cussion are citizens of India, residents of huge quality of water stored in the Rengali users of this river to respect the principle of South Asia and concerned individuals from reservoir). The water quality improves to using a Common Property Resource all over the world. They can be contacted C-class, which can be used as a drinking (CPR). Among all the users it is the cor- at [email protected] to seek an- water source with conventional treatment fol- porate bodies who have failed to behave swers to almost all questions concerned with lowed by disinfection. properly by respecting the basic principles the proposals aimed at replumbing the But, this lasts for a very small stretch of of using a CPR. planet. the river – between the reservoirs Rengali Ratna Singh and Samal. At Samal, Brahmani is fed with Continued on page 12

11 Toxics Dispatch No 21

td21-eng.pmd 11 5/7/04, 3:13 PM Black FACT FILE

Reality check for Indians All Indian citizens are aware that their environment is degrading gradually and steadily. This knowledge, however, has become so familiar that we have be- come immune to it. In order to stir us out of our complacency let’s take a look at some awakening statistics: L As against the requirement of a 33% E-toxic listserve forest cover, only a little over 10% of Toxics Link coordinates an electronic India is covered by forests. discussion group for sharing and L India’s forests are among the least L According to the Central Pollution productive in Asia: their average an- Control Board, over 5 million litres disseminating information. If you would nual productivity of less than 1 cu m of liquid effluents a day flow un- like to join the group, please e-mail us per hectare being about a fourth of treated from polluting industries into at [email protected] the Asian average. our water bodies. Similarly, 17 mil- L India has among the lowest per capita lion litres of untreated liquid efflu- availability of forests in the world, less ents flow from urban areas into our than 0.1 hectare per head. water bodies every day. If you have suggestions or require L The annual loss of top soil, by ero- L A World Bank study of 36 major cit- information, please contact: sion, is estimated to be over 6,000 ies in India estimates that, annually, million tones. there are over 40,000 premature Toxics Link – Delhi L The area prone to flooding has more deaths and nearly 2 crore cases of H2 Jungpura Extension than tripled in the last forty years, hospital admissions and sickness re- from 19 million hectares to over 60 quiring medical treatment due to air Ground Floor million hectares. Ironically, nearly pollution. The poorer inhabitants of New Delhi 110 014 half the districts in India have suf- these cities, given their lower stand- Tel:+91-(0)11-24328006/24320711 fered from both floods and droughts. ard of living, nutrition, and health, E-mail: [email protected] L Recent data suggests that a third of are more susceptible to negative the entire riverine length in the coun- health impacts from air pollution. try (about 6,000 kms) has moderate Compiled by Annie Marie Prayas Toxics Link – Mumbai to severe pollution. Source: Towards a Social Charter for the 4th Floor, CVOD Jain School Environment by Prof Shekhar Singh 84, Samuel Street Continued from page 11 with respect to the river Brahmani. Dongri Industries claim to be the usherers of So what is the logical step forward? Mumbai 400 009 development. But, in the case of Brahmani, Now the stakeholders of Brahmani, other Tel: +91-(0)22-23435058/23439651 they have failed to demonstrate their edu- than those who have violated the common E-mail: [email protected] cated ways. principles of using a CPR, will join forces Even state authorities, such as the State to see to it that their rights are not violated. Pollution Control Board (SPCB) have Sisir Tripathy Toxics Link – Chennai failed miserably in performing their duties DAG, Angul 8, Fourth Street Venkateswara Nagar Adyar Chennai 600 020 Tel: +91-(0)44-24914358/24460387 Quotes from the Earth is a compilaton of films on the themes of Hunger, Water and Surival. E-mail: [email protected] To screen the films in your city, please get in touch with Ruchita Khurana at [email protected]. The films are available against a nominal security deposit. You can Website: www.toxicslink.org view details about the films at http://www.toxicslink.org/earthquotes/

Designed by Splash! Communications, e-mail [email protected] Toxics Dispatch No 21 Illustrations by Vishwajyoti Ghosh, e-mail [email protected]

td21-eng.pmd 12 5/7/04, 3:13 PM Black