Radiation Incident in Mayapuri: Negligent Handling of RadioActive Material
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COMMENTARY i nstitutions and universities to prevent Radiation Incident in Mayapuri: negligent handling of radio active material. In the meanwhile, one of the victims suc Disquieting Signals to Labour cumbed to the radiation injuries. Neglect of Labour Concerns Babu P Remesh, C P Vinod The Mayapuri incident clearly exposes the laxity of the Atomic Energy Regulatory The nuclear radiation in a scrap ark images of death attached to Board (AERB), which is considered the market in west Delhi’s Mayapuri the chemical leakage of Bhopal watchdog for radiological safety in our area, in April 2010, which led Dand the nuclear tragedy of Cher country and tracks every source of radia nobyl are still haunting our collective tion periodically. The occurrence of such to the death of a worker and p syche, thanks to the ritually repeated an event, despite the “rigorous accounting fatal injuries to many others is a v isual streams in an age of televised reality. and inventory system” being followed by shocking reminder of weaknesses The latest disaster of this kind is the AERB, gives room for anxieties on the effi in the system for tracking r adiation incident in the scrap market of cacy of extant arrangements for tracking Mayapuri Industrial Area in west Delhi in minor radioactive substances. minor radioactive substances. the first week of April, which caused one An observant overview of the discus Based on insights from Mayapuri, death and severe injuries to six others. sions in media suggests that apart from this commentary discusses the The scary episode began on 7 April 2010 the flaws in monitoring mechanisms of acute absence of occupational after a scrap dealer and few employees r adioactive material and larger concerns suffered burn injuries and fell ill, about nuclear safety, less has been talked safety and health measures for apparently due to radiation. The subse about the everyday safety of workers, not workers in the informal sector, quent enquiries led to the detection of a only as immediate victims but also as especially for those who work powerful radioactive isotope of Cobalt those who face serious health and occupa in extremely precarious and (Cobalt 60), which is normally used for tional hazards at polluted workplaces. medical purposes and for select uses in Workers’ safety related to their liveli inhuman conditions. industry. While the initial media reports hoods invites special attention at a time denied radioactive emissions and por when the government is contemplating trayed the incident as a case of a mild the revision of the Civil Nuclear Liberty chemical leak, the presence of Cobalt 60 Bill and when India is heading for a large and “acute radiation” was confirmed sub scale expansion of the industrial use of sequently. Panic was triggered in the n uclear energy. Concerns have already locality and in the neighbourhoods of the been raised that the bill, in its existing National Capital Region when a team of form, transfers risk of a nuclear mishap nuclear experts identified 11 sources of on to the people at large, indemnifying radiation in the vicinity and when the the supplier of a nuclear plant and covers i nvestigative agencies were not able to the liability of the operator in the event of immediately establish the source from an accident (Raju and Ramana 2010). The where the radioactive material eventually interests of workers and society at large found its way to Mayapuri. are, thus, often swept under the carpet, The issue was soon discussed in Par while formulating farreaching policies in liament and the minister of state for atomic a country where the majority of the work energy explained that the scrap in question ers eke out their living in most precarious seemingly came from abroad, as the coun and inhuman conditions. try has “strict rules and regulations in The radiation episode and subsequent place”, to track the movement of radioac developments show the acute absence of tive material from domestic sources. This protective legislation and social security explanation of the minister was later systems to support the workers in the in The authors are grateful to Neetha N for proved wrong and the story soon took a formal sector, who are deprived of any constructive comments. different turn when the source of the mate other means to rely on, in times of contin Babu P Remesh ([email protected]) and rial was traced back to a mass of scrap, gencies. The hurried admission of the C P Vinod ([email protected]) are with auctioned by the chemistry laboratory of minister of state for atomic energy in the School of Interdisciplinary and the Delhi University. Since then there Parliament that “We do not have a proper Transdisciplinary Studies, Indira Gandhi have been a series of corrective d irections law so far to ensure that compensation is National Open University, New Delhi. from the authorities to r egulate research paid to victims of such incidents” is an 16 july 24, 2010 vol xlv no 30 EPW Economic & Political Weekly COMMENTARY e lusive stand. It is very pathetic to note e nergy, regarding the absence of enabling spectrum of informal sector occupations. that even after decades of planning and legislation for compensation in Mayapuri The scrap market in Mayapuri is adjacent legislation, the government lacks some case, shows a strong lack of confidence of to the industrial area divided into four legislative backing to provide immediate the government regarding the efficacy of blocks, dealing mainly with metal wastes, relief to the victims of an industrial acci the existing act and policy. It is, thus, largely comprised automobile parts, cop dent – for which to a greater extent the important to treat Mayapuri as an eye per wires, tyre parts and so on. There are former is responsible. As per the version of opener to work on proper implementa hundreds of petty, small and largescale the workers and natives of Mayapuri, no tion of existing welfare measures for scrap dealers. While most of these dealers authority has yet approached them with informal workers. are small entre preneurs, dealing with the offer of any kind of compensation. smaller consignments procured locally, Though there have been some initiatives Relevance of Preventive Planning some of them are also linked to interna from petty scrap dealers of the vicinity to The Mayapuri episode also suggests that tional networks, involving regular import collect a relief fund through contributions our policymaking is still in a postmortem and export of scrap materials. of other workers and dealers for assisting mode. The investigations and corrective The workers are mostly migrants from the family, no major headway has hap measures are often done only after UP, Bihar and other states near Delhi. Most pened so far. tragedies have taken their toll. The im of them work for 1012 hours a day, for Soon after the Delhi University was mediate responses of various governmen d aily wages ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 250. held responsible as the source of radio tal organisations, including National Dis The prominence of the migrant nature of active material, the vice chancellor of the aster Management Authority (NDMA) and such workers leads to a situation where university, in a press conference, came up AERB show our inability to anticipate such longterm occupational health hazards are with yet another embarrassing statement disasters and to take preventive meas often underreported. While some of the that “the university takes the moral res ures. For instance, it is only after a few locals reported that some workers left the ponsibility and in case compensation is to days of the Mayapuri incident, NDMA vicinity after the outbreak of radiation, the be paid, the university community would could plan for a special training pro overall intensity of work in the market has contribute”. The statement brings an ele gramme for doctors – to handle radiation not declined, visibly due to a steady influx ment of “charity” rather than a legally cases. In a country which witnessed the of migrants and the fact that wage work binding commitment of the operator of Bhopal gas tragedy, the world’s worst is central to their survival. The fact that the radioactive mate rial. It is high time to ever industrial accident, due to a chemi the work at Mayapuri came back to nor shift our social security systems from such cal gas leakage, there is no special malcy within a few days since the tragedy charitybased interventions to rightbased r equirement for educating policymakers itself shows the acute footloose nature of measures. Rather than waiting with beg and social actors on the importance of the workers. ging bowls, the workers need legally en planning and investing on security meas In Mayapuri scrap market, alongside forceable options. ures. Despite having dedicated national unloading, processing and breaking the The commendable contribution of the level insti tutions that are mandated to scrap, several tiny units are engaged in a National Commission for Enterprises in work on occupational safety and health, range of repairing, recycling and rebuild the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) in pres quite often, we miserably fail to provide ing of a v ariety of things – including the cribing a modicum level of social security pro tection to the lives and health of the manufacturing of automobile spare parts, to the workers in unorganised sector was, labouring poor. petty agri cultural devices, industrial tools in fact, a good beginning towards realis An analysis of the responses of govern ing such a rightbased social security mental agencies, so far, suggests that the Council for Social framework. However, the ultimate legisla focus of interventions is gradually and Development tion that came in place, the Unorganised steadily shifting away from labour con Sector Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008, cerns.