Ban-Asbestos-India: Proposed Killer Asbestos Plant in Vaishali

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Proposed Killer Asbestos Plant in Vaishali

To

Mr Sanjeev Hans
District Magistrate
Vaishali
Bihar

Subject-Proposed Killer Asbestos Plant in Vaishali

Dear Mr Hans,

This is with reference to my earlier letter to Deputy Chief Minister which was copied to you. On behalf of Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI), this is to urge you to avoid providing assistance to any immoral exercise to help set up the proposed asbestos plant in Vaishali. More than 55 countries have banned asbestos of all kinds due to health hazards.

We have learnt that Kolkata based Utkal Asbestos Limited (UAL) Industries Ltd plans to establish a 2, 50, 000 MT per year capacity Asbestos Cement Sheet and Corrugated Sheet Plants at Chaksultan, Rampur Rajdhari and Goraul villages of Vaishali district in the name of UAL-Bihar. This proposed plant is contrary to the wisdom contained in the text books of Biology, Chemistry, Toxicology and Medical Sciences.

I am aware that thousands of villagers in Muzaffarpur are protesting against a proposed chrysotile asbestos based plant since May 2010 since they know that asbestos cannot be used safely and in a controlled condition anywhere in India or elsewhere. On 1st and 2nd February, 2011, the newspapers have reported that construction of the proposed asbestos plant has been stopped.

The villagers here are braving police firing and repression of the insensitive government but are convinced that hazardous factory of asbestos which would get its raw asbestos from Canada and other countries pose grave dangers for the present and future generations. Notably, Canada has a no home use policy and it has decontaminated its parliament (House of Commons) of asbestos materials.

Instead of taking cognizance of such developments locally and globally, we have noted that The Times of India has carried an advertisement of Bihar State Pollution Control Board announcing 6/3/2011 as the date of public hearing at Panapur for the proposed asbestos cement plant in Vaishali. The very fact that the asbestos raw material for the proposed will be brought from Canada, Russia, Brazil and Zimbabwe underlines that the asbestos mining in India remains banned because of health hazards.

It is an exercise in sophistry to argue that asbestos can be used safely because WHO and ILO have already established that safe and controlled use of any kind of asbestos is impossible.

We appeal to you to take cognizance of global movement against asbestos of all kinds including white asbestos and take action to deal with the unacceptable situation of facing huge number of victims of asbestos related diseases like lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis.

In the light of incontrovertible evidence, it would be in the fitness of things if the state government and the central government is persuaded to take preventive steps to stop imminent public health disaster.

In the midst of a global epidemic of asbestos diseases, it would be deemed inhuman to allow exposure to asbestos in Vaishali and elsewhere.

We expect a proactive and positive response from you in view of supreme human interest.

Yours Sincerely
Gopal Krishna
Convener
Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI)
Asbestos Mukti Andolan
New Delhi
Mb: 09818089660, 07739308480
E-mail-krishna2777@gmail.com
Web: banasbestosindia.blogspot.com

Cc
Shri Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister, Bihar
Shri Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister of Environment & Forests
Dr. Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Member of Parliament, Vaishali
Superintendent of Police, Vaishali
DDC, Vaishali
Ms Sunita Narain, Director, Centre for Science & Environment, New Delhi

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Ban on Asbestos is a Must

A study in a peer-reviewed journal had earlier estimated that there could be more than 6,000 workers affected by asbestosis (an untreatable lung ailment) and another 600 suffering at the minimum from asbestosis-related lung cancer in India at present. Occupational cancer from asbestos, the disease caused by emissions at the work place, poses an increasingly serious health problem. But the subject has attracted relatively little attention from industry, labour, public health bodies or the medical profession. Asbestos is one of the single largest sources of occupational cancer. Indian polticians are acting as if they are bonded workers of asbestos industry.

World Trade Center, New York collapsed Thousands of tons of asbestos became airborne.

Back in 1981, there was research coming out that Asbestos was cancer causing and this ad was in rebuttal to that research touting the benefits of using Asbestos. The text over the Twin Towers states, "When the Fire Alarm Went Off, It Took Two Hours to Evacuate New York's World Trade Center." I do not need to remind anyone of the images of September 11th and this ad. The copy below the ad goes on to mention all of the places that Asbestos was used in the World Trade Center. I can not not think of all of the innocent victims in the area that were exposed to all of the dust, smoke and inherent asbestos that was in the air after the buildings collapsed. The cloud of smoke went across the entire city and potentially exposed hundreds of thousands of individuals to asbestos. Hopefully there can be a cure or treatment for Mesothelioma before all of these potential victims are diagnosed.

Apex Court allocates meagre compensation for asbetsos victims

In 1995, the Supreme Court of India fixed Rs 1 lakh compensation amount and identified National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH) as the final authority to certify asbestosis cases. Compensations are given through the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC). Two workers in Ahmedabad Electricity Company diagnosed as having asbestosis by NIOH have been compensated by Gujarat High Court. Twenty-five workers in asbestos jointing and packing industry at Mumbai were compensated by the Special medical board of ESIC. The court ruled that the industrial units must maintain a health record of every worker up to a minimum period of 40 years; insure workers under the Employees State Insurance Act or Workmen’s Compensation Act and give health coverage to every worker.

Asbestos Victims

Every day estimated 30 deaths in India is under way due to the ongoing trade and use of white asbestos. 'Asbestos' in Greek means 'indestructible'. Greeks called asbestos the 'magic mineral'. Asbestos is a generic term, referring usually to six kinds of naturally occuring mineral fibres. Of these six, three are used more commonly. Chrysotile is the most common, accounts for almost 90 per cent of the asbestos used in the industry, but it is not unusual to encounter Amosite or Crocidolite as well. Though Crocidolite asbestos is banned in India, it can still be found in old insulation material, old ships that come from other countries for wrecking in India. All types of asbestos tend to break into very tiny fibre, almost microscopic. In fact, some of them may be up to 700 times smaller than human hair. Because of their small size, once released into the air, they may stay suspended in the air for hours or even days. Asbestos fibres are virtually indestructible. They are resistant to chemicals and heat, and are very stable in the environment. They do not evaporate into air or dissolve in water, and they do not break down over time. Because of its high durability and with tensile strength asbestos has been widely used inconstruction and insulation materials - it has been used in over 3,000 different products. Where do we use it? In India, asbestos is used in manufacture of pressure and non pressure pipes used for water supply, sewage, irrigation and drainage system in urban and rural areas, asbestos textiles, laminated products, tape, gland packing, packing ropes, brake lining and jointing used in core sector industries such as automobile, heavy equipment, petro-chemicals, nuclear power plants, fertilizers, thermal power plants, transportation, defence.

Make India Asbestos Free

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Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Proposed Killer Asbestos Plant in Vaishali

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