Closure of Asbestos factory in Bihiya, Bhojpur will be a genuine tribute to the memory of Prof. Ishwari Prasad

The legacy of Ishwari Prasad, a noted supporter of the asbestos-free Bihar movement will remain alive

Prof. Ishwari Prasad, a noted economist from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) used to argue against the externalization of health costs due to hazardous industries like the asbestos industry. He said, “We cannot wait for studies and counting of dead bodies for government to act. The global evidence is incontrovertible” at the Conference on Environmental and Occupational Health in the presence of the Chairman, Bihar Legislative Council on December 24, 2012. He signed the Patna Declaration seeking environmental, and occupational health infrastructure and the prohibition on all forms of asbestos-based products amidst anti-asbestos protests by villagers. He was addressing the Collegium Ramazzini Round Table on Environmental and Occupational Diseases as part of the conference.

 

Prof. Ishwari Prasad left his mortal frame on December 28, 2023, at the age of 89 years in Patna. He is survived by Usha Prasad, his daughter and sons.

In an article in Prabhat Khabar, Prof. Ishwari Prasad had warned the government of Singur like unrest in Bihar if the proposed six asbestos plants at Goraul, Vaishali, Giddha, Koilwar, Bhojpur, Kumarbagh Industrial Area, West Champaran, Pandaul, Madhubani and Bihiya, Bhojpur by Utkal Asbestos Ltd, Nibhi company, Hyderabad Industries, A Infrastructure Ltd and Ramco company respectively are not stopped. His intervention, the struggle of villagers of Vaishali’s Chaksultan Rampur Rajdhari near Panapur in Kanhauli Dhanraj Panchayat in Goraul block, and the street protest by Patna Asbestos Virodhi Nagrik Manch, Left and socialist parties on January 16, 2012 against asbestos based plants had a positive impact.

(Photo: Prof Ishwari Prasad, former Professor, JNU, and Dr. Barry Castleman, former consultant, World Health Organisation, and author of Asbestos: Medical and legal aspects)

After the conference, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met the leaders of the ban asbestos movement led by Khet Bachao Jeevan Bachao Jan Sangharsh Committee (KBJBJC) and the leaders of left and socialist parties at his residence at 1, Anne Marg in Patna in the evening hours of February 13, 2013. Chief Minister promised that he would ‘puncture’ the construction of asbestos factories in the State. Bihar Chief Minister expressed outrage at the granting of a ‘No Objection Certificate’ by the Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB) to hazardous asbestos-based factories in fertile agricultural lands. He phoned the Chairman, of BSPCB and fixed an appointment for the villagers of Vaishali and expressed his disapproval of asbestos-based factories to him. Villagers met the Chairman, BSPCB. BSPCB’s Chairman spoke to District Magistrate, Vaishali and assured the villagers of the necessary action for canceling the approval given to the asbestos company’s plant. 

Following the Chief Minister’s intervention, Bihar’s State Investment Promotion Board (SIPB) and the State Cabinet disapproved all the asbestos-based industrial projects and rescinded these approvals except the one at Bihiya, Bhojpur where two units of Tamil Nadu-based Ramco company’s plant was already constructed.

The villagers have been protesting against these units which have been found by BSPCB to be operating in violation of specific environmental laws. It has been violating the Supreme Court’s verdict dated 27 January 1995 which paved the way for the adoption of occupational health surveillance under the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Guidance Manual-Asbestos Based Industries by the Union government. Besides these laws and the Court’s order, the company is in violation of the three Schedules under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSHWC) Code 2020 which refer to hazardous asbestos mineral fiber and asbestosis, an incurable disease. 

BSPCB has a consistent position against these two units of Ramco company’s hazardous asbestos plants under which Vivek Kumar Singh, as Chairman, BSPCB canceled the Non-Objection Certificates (NOCs) given to the hazardous enterprise of Ramco company under Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and Rules 3 (1), Schedule 1 of Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules under Environment (Protection) Act 1986. These Rules deal with hazardous wastes generated during the production of asbestos or asbestos-containing materials including asbestos-containing residues, discarded asbestos, and dust/particulates from exhaust gas treatment.  

 

Following the cancellation of NOCs, the company approached the Appellate Authority to appeal against the cancellation. At the time of their appeal, the Appellate Authority happened to be Vivek Kumar Singh himself who as Chairman, of Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB) had canceled their NOCs. The company used this apparent violation of the principle of natural justice as a ground to seek relief from the Patna High Court. It got the relief. Instead of confirming its order asking the State government to rectify the error by appointing a person as Appellate Authority in compliance with the principle of natural justice and unmindful of the fact that the fact of violation of environmental laws has not been disputed, the High Court allowed the company to operate its plant. But now that the Appellate Authority has been changed as per the Court's directions the error has been rectified and now the High Court has asked the Chairman, BSPCB to act after examining the complaint against it, the matter is before you. 

 

BSPCB's legal action could not become effective because of the order of a single judge bench of Patna High Court on the limited ground of violation of natural justice. The order of Justice Jyoti Sharan dated 30 March 2017 had directed the Chief Secretary, State of Bihar to rectify the error of the Chairman of the BSPCB and the Appellate Authority being the same person.

(Source: https://indiankanoon.org/doc/64804529/

 

It is a fact that the Court’s order did not dispute the finding of the Board about the violation of environmental laws. It did not dispute that asbestos and asbestos-based industries are heavily polluting and have been categorized as R24 in the Red Category. (Source: http://bspcb.bih.nic.in/Categorization_10.10.18_new.pdf) 

 

Subsequently, a Division Bench of the High Court comprising Justices Ajay Kumar Tripathi and Niku Agrawal passed another order modifying the previous order in the Bihar State Pollution Control Board v. Ramco Industries Ltd. on 30 April 2018 (Letters Patent Appeal No.873 of 2017 In Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No. 421 of 2017. The order authored by Justice Tripathi reads: "Since Mr. Vivek Kumar Singh no longer happens to be the Chairman of the Bihar State Pollution Control Board, therefore, one of the reasons provided by the learned Single Judge for interfering with the order no longer holds good. It is left open to the new Chairman of Bihar State Pollution Control Board to pass a fresh order by law after hearing the parties." Source: https://indiankanoon.org/doc/85967218/ 

 

The legal action taken by the BSPCB against the asbestos-based factories of Ramco Industries Limited is praiseworthy. As a follow-up of BSPCB’s previous action in this regard, there is a need to address the public health crisis as a consequence of the ongoing unscientific and illegal disposal of hazardous and carcinogenic asbestos waste. The violation of all the general and specific conditions laid down in the NOC given by the BSPCB and the environmental clearance given by the Experts Appraisal Committee of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change by the company's factories in question is crying for attention. 

 The following news broadcasts have captured the situation in Bihiya, Bhojpur-

1.  Ramco Company: सरकार के साथ साथ दे रही जनता को धोखा, 2. रामको कंपनी ने बिहिया को बनाया डस्टबिन, 3.Asbestos के Sale व Use को Bihar में अब रोक दीजिए Nitish जी, नहीं तो बच्चे ऐसे ही सो जाते रहेंगे, and 

4. Buying Asbestos is buying Cancer: Chairman, Bihar Legislative Council 

The following methods in disposing of asbestos waste (dust and fibers) by the company in question have been noticed at the site of both the units of Ramco company:

1. Using excavators the broken sheets are crushed and buried deep inside factory premises. The broken pieces pose a grave threat to the groundwater shared by fertile agricultural land and villagers who use it for drinking purposes. 

2. Since there is no space to bury the asbestos waste broken asbestos products are sold to fictitious or known dealers on ex- factory basis to discard the company's responsibility for disposal. Normally, the destination of such disposal will be in remote locations and buried on fertile lands or used for landfilling and covered by sand permanently. It seems to be a corporate crime but logical from the company's perspective as no one will pay 4 times the cost for transportation for a zero-value material. 

3. The broken ast-based sheets are cut inside the factory into unmarketable sizes like 1-meter length and gifted as CSR activities. The cutting process emits a lot of asbestos dust and fibers harmful to the workers and villagers. 

4. Broken asbestos sheets and wastes during transit handling or from the customer end are brought to the depot at various locations to harden topsoil or landfilling which again poses a threat to groundwater. Cutting broken bigger asbestos sheets also pose a danger as asbestos fibers become airborne. 

5. Wherever cement is handled in bags inside the factory it creates occupational hazards for workers due to asbestos dust particles. This is a threat to villagers as well because the air quality in the area gets polluted. 

6. Ramco Industries Limited has been donating asbestos based roofs to the nearby Mahatin Mai temple and to the parking space of the District Magistrate's office as an exercise in ethical positioning of its brand and as a public relations exercise. The villagers, temple devotees, and the district administration have been taken for a ride. They have acted in complete ignorance of the Board's action against Ramco's factories.

The stance of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who has declared in the State Assembly that the Bihar Government will not allow construction of carcinogenic asbestos factories in the state on 1st July 2019 is worthy of appreciation.  This announcement and the verdict by the Italian Court vindicates the anti-asbestos struggle by villagers of Bhojpur. 
BSPCB's action about carcinogenic white chrysotile asbestos mineral fiber has been consistent with what is published on the National Health Portal (NHP), Centre for Health Informatics (CHI), National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (NIHFW), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India. The National Health Portal states that “All forms of asbestos (chrysotile, crocidolite, amosite, tremolite, actinolite, and anthophyllite) are in use because of their extraordinary tensile strength, poor heat conduction, and relative resistance to chemical attack. Chemically, asbestos minerals are silicate compounds, meaning they contain atoms of silicon and oxygen in their molecular structure. All forms of asbestos are carcinogenic to humans. Asbestos exposure (including chrysotile) causes cancer of the lung, larynx, and ovaries, and also mesothelioma (a cancer of the pleural and peritoneal linings).” Asbestos exposure is also responsible for other diseases such as asbestosis (fibrosis of the lungs), and plaques, thickening, and effusion in the pleura.”  It observes that “Asbestos exposure occurs through inhalation of fibers in the air in the working environment, ambient air in the vicinity of point sources such as factories handling asbestos, or indoor air in housing and buildings containing friable asbestos materials.”

Against such a backdrop, it is quite distressing that Ramco company's factories in Bihiya managed to get relief from Patna High Court on a procedural ground of violation of natural justice. Now that the procedural error has been rectified, the operation of the two units of Ramco Asbestos Company must be stopped. Its operation is a case of environmental health lawlessness. It has violated every specific and general condition that has been stipulated in the environmental clearance and the No Objection Certificate.

It is necessary to initiate preventive action in the face of tycoons, officials, and ministers facing criminal charges and imprisonment for their act of knowingly subjecting unsuspecting people to killer fibers of asbestos in Europe. The future will be no different for the culprits in India. It is quite clear from the Court’s order that the Chairman, BSPCB has to reissue the “fresh order by the law after hearing the parties”  and reiterate its earlier order against both the asbestos-based units in Bihiya, Bihar. 

(Photo: Prof. Ishwari Prasad with Awadhesh Narayan Singh, Chairman, Bihar Legislative Council, Dr. Barry Castleman, Justice Rekha Kumari, and Advocate Dr Gopal Krishna addressing conference environmental and occupational health in Patna)  

The closure of both units will be a genuine tribute to the memory of Prof. Ishwari Prasad who wished Bihar to be a asbestos-free and asbestos-related disease-free state, worthy of emulation by other states.  

Yet another death in Ramco's asbestos factory in Bhojpur

To

Shri Nitish Kumar 

Hon'ble Chief Minister

Government of Bihar

Patna

Date: 21/12/2020

Subject- Yet another death of a worker and violation of environmental laws by the two asbestos based units of Chennai based Ramco Industries Limited in Bihiya, Bhojpur

Sir, 

This is to draw your immediate attention towards the cruel death of yet another worker late Shri Shivji Yadav, s/o late Shri Dhurkhel Yadav in the asbestos based factory units of Chennai based Ramco Industries Limited in Bihiya, Bhojpur on the night of 19 December, 2020. The worker is a resident of Khadra village, Dawa Panchayat under Jagdishpur police station. The deceased worker is survived by his wife, 6 daughters and 2 sons. Earlier, one worker named Shri Barak Yadav too died while working in this factory. Bihar Human Rights Commission was seized with the latter case. The news report regarding the former is attached. 

I submit that First Schedule of Occupational Safety, Health & Working Conditions Code, 2020 refers to Industries involving hazardous processes including manufacture, handling & processing of Asbestos and ts products. Its Third Schedule lists incurable Asbestosis as a Notifiable Disease. Besides the villagers in the vicinity of Ramco's factories, all the workers face the threat of such health hazards and accidents. This Code has to be read along with the verdict of Hon'ble Supreme Court dated 27 January, 1995 in Consumer Education Research Centre v Union of India for effective implementation. 

I appreciate the legal action taken by the Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB) against the two units of asbestos based factories of Ramco Industries Limited located at Bihiya, Bhojpur pursuant to your instructions to the Board in response to villagers' petition to you against such hazardous factories. 

As a follow up of your previous action in this regard, I wish to draw your urgent attention towards the public health crisis as a consequence of ongoing unscientific and illegal disposal of hazardous and carcinogenic asbestos (dust & fibers) and broken asbestos based roofs by Chennai based Ramco Industries Limited in Bihiya, Bhojpuri, Bihar. It has endangered the human life and environmental health of Bihiya and the villages in the area besides the workers employed there. The picture is attached. 

I am aware that the Board's legal action could not become effective because of the order of a single judge bench of Hon'ble Patna High Court on the limited ground of violation of natural justice. The order of Justice Jyoti Sharan dated 30 March, 2017 had directed the Chief Secretary, State of Bihar to rectify the error of Chairman of the BSPCB and thev Appellate Authority happened to be Shri Vivek Kumar Singh. Source: https://indiankanoon.org/doc/64804529/

The fact remains this order too did not dispute the finding of the Board with regard to violation of the environmental laws. It did not dispute that as asbestos and asbestos based industries are heavily polluting and have been categorised as R24 in the Red Category (http://bspcb.bih.nic.in/Categorization_10.10.18_new.pdf) 

Subsequently, a division bench of the Hon'ble High Court comprising Justices Ajay Kumar Tripathi and Niku Agrawal passed another order modifying the previous order in The Bihar State Pollution Control Board & others Vs M/S Ramco Industries Ltd. on 30 April, 2018 (Letters Patent Appeal No.873 of 2017 In Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No. 421 of 2017. The order authored by Justice Tripathi reads: "Since Mr. Vivek Kumar Singh no longer happens to be the Chairman of the Bihar State Pollution Control Board, therefore, one of the reasons provided by the learned Single Judge for interfering with the order no longer holds good. It is left open to the new Chairman of Bihar State Pollution Control Board to pass a fresh order in accordance with law after hearing the parties." Source: https://indiankanoon.org/doc/85967218/ 

In such a backdrop, I wish to draw your attention again towards the violation of all the general and specific conditions laid down in the NOC given by the Bihar State Pollution Control Board and the environmental clearance given by the Experts Appraisal Committee of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change by the company's factories in question. 

I wish to draw your attention towards a news broadcast by a news channel titled - 

Ramco Company: सरकार के साथ साथ दे रही जनता को धोखा| https://youtu.be/2fJKGtrPyC4
An official video of Ramco Industries Limited which authenticates the claims made in the news report is available with us which can be shared when required. It is not being shared right away because of it is a heavy file. 

In such a context, I submit that I have learnt the following methods in disposing of asbestos waste (dust and fibers) by the company in question:

1. Using excavators the broken sheets are crushed and buried deep inside factory premises. The broken pieces pose a grave threat to the ground water shared by fertile agriculture land and villagers who use it for drinking purpose. 

2. Since there is no space to bury the asbestos waste and broken asbestos products are sold to fictitious or  known dealers on ex- factory basis to discard company's responsibility for disposal. Normally, the destination of duch disposal will be in remote locations and buried on fertile lands or used for land filling and covered by sand permanently. It seems to be a corporate crime but logical from company's perspective as no one will pay 4 times the cost for transportation for a zero value material. 

3. The broken ast based sheets are cut inside factory into unmarketable sizes like 1 meter length and gifted as CSR activities. The cutting process emits lot of asbestos dust and fibers harmful for the workers and villagers. 

4. Broken asbestos sheets and wastes during transit handling or from customer end are brought to depot at various locations to harden top soil or land filling which again poses a threat to ground water. Cutting broken bigger asbestos sheets also pose danger as asbestos  fibers become air borne. 

5. Wherever cement is handled in bags inside factory it creates occupational hazard for workers due to asbestos dust particles. This is a threat to villagers as well because the air quality in the area gets polluted. 

6. Ramco Industries Limited has been donating asbestos based roofs to the nearby Mahthin Mai temple and to the parking space of the District Magistrate's office as an exercise in ethical positioning of it's bran and as a public relations exercise. Villagers, temple devotees and the district administration has been taken for a ride. They have acted in complete ignorance of Board's action against Ramco's factories.

In view of the above, I wish to request you to probe the health status of the communities linked to the factory and who reside in proximity of the two units of asbestos factories in Bihiya, Bhojpur run by Ramco Industries Limited besides the workers. Your prompt action will  safeguard the environmental health of present and future residents of Bhojpur in particular and all the residents of Bihar in general by imposing immediate ban on use of asbestos based products of all kinds in State. 

I appreciate for stance declaring in the State Assembly that Bihar Government will not allow construction of carcinogenic asbestos factories in the state on 1st July, 2019. This announcement is a vindication of the anti-asbestos struggle by villagers of Muzaffarpur, Vaishali and Bhojpur. 

I submit that the death toll of children in Muzaffarpur has revealed that asbestos cement sheets are quite unhealthy building materials which lead to morbidity and mortality by contributing to the deterioration of their health.

I submit that Board's action with regard to carcinogenic white chrysotile asbestos mineral fiber has been consistent with what is published on National Health Portal (NHP) , Centre for Health Informatics (CHI), National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (NIHFW), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India. The National Health Portal states that “All forms of asbestos (chrysotile, crocidolite, amosite, tremolite, actinolite and anthophyllite) are in use because of their extraordinary tensile strength, poor heat conduction, and relative resistance to chemical attack. Chemically,s asbestos minerals are silicate compounds, meaning they contain atoms of silicon and oxygen in their molecular structure. All forms of asbestos are carcinogenic to humans. Exposure to asbestos (including chrysotile) causes cancer of the lung, larynx, and ovaries, and also mesothelioma (a cancer of the pleural and peritoneal linings).

Asbestos exposure is also responsible for other diseases such as asbestosis (fibrosis of the lungs), and plaques, thickening and effusion in the pleura.”  It observes that “Exposure to asbestos occurs through inhalation of fibers in air in the working environment, ambient air in the vicinity of point sources such as factories handling asbestos, or indoor air in housing and buildings containing friable asbestos materials.”

I wish to draw your urgent attention towards the order of Kerala Human Rights Commission (KHRC) that has ruled that exposing Indians to asbestos is a human rights violation. This paves the way for the eventual complete ban on asbestos and its products. On January 31, 2009, the KHRC ruled that the government should take steps to phase out asbestos roofing from all schools in the state. Bihar State Pollution Control Board can act of this recommendation as well.

I submit that so far Hon'ble Supreme Court’s order of 27 January, 1995 in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 206 of 1986 cannot be ignored without endangering residents of Bihar. Hon'ble Court observed: “The development of the carcinogenic risk due to asbestos or any other carcinogenic agent, does not require a continuous exposure. The cancer risk does not cease when the exposure to the carcinogenic agent ceases, but rather the individual carries the increased risk for the remaining years of life. The exposure to asbestos and the resultant long tragic chain of adverse medical, legal and societal consequences, remains the legal and social responsibility of the employer or the producer not to endanger the workmen or the community of the society. He is not absolved of the inherent responsibility to the exposed workmen or the society at large.”

I submit the state government was supposed to incorporate specific directions of the Court with regard to fresh ILO Resolution of June 14, 2006 introducing a ban on all mining, manufacture, recycling and use of all forms of asbestos besides WHO‟s resolution of 2005 seeking elimination of future use of asbestos but it has been ignored so far.

I wish to also draw your attention towards what Government of India’s National Health Portal states: “The burden of asbestos-related diseases is still rising, even in countries that banned the use of asbestos in the early 1990s. Because of the long latency periods attached to the asbestos related diseases, stopping the use of asbestos now will result in a decrease in the number of asbestos-related deaths only after a number of decades. There is no safe use of asbestos and no safe limits set by WHO, ILO (International labour organization)” . It discloses that “The prevalence of asbestosis in four cement factories (Ahmadabad, Hyderabad, Coimbatore and Mumbai) varied from 3% to 5%” and “In asbestos textile industry prevalence of asbestosis was 9% in workers having less than 10 years exposure, in contrast to the reported average duration of over 20 years”  (National Health Portal, Government of India).

I submit that in a reply to the Parliament, Union Minister of Health and Family welfare stated that “The Ministry of Mines has informed that the Grant of fresh mining leases and renewal of existing mining leases for Asbestos are presently banned in the country on Health Grounds”  (Union Ministry of Health and Family welfare, 2014). He also shared the findings of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Union Ministry of Health and Family welfare which has “informed that major health hazards of asbestos include cancer of lung, mesothelioma of pleura and peritoneum and specific fibrous disease of lung known as asbestosis. All types of asbestos fibers are responsible for human mortality and morbidity….” This has been shared by the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare in a written reply to the Parliament and released by Press Information Bureau, Government of India. This reply corroborates your observation in the State Assembly.

I was saddened when Ramco company' factories in Bhojpur’s Bihiya managed to get relief from Hon’ble Patna High Court on a grossly procedural
ground of violation of natural justice. This procedural error ought to be rectified and the operation of the two units of an asbestos company must be stopped. Its operation is a case of environmental health lawlessness. It has dumped hazardous asbestos waste in the agricultural fields and has been spewing toxic asbestos dust at night.

It has violated every specific and general condition which has been stipulated in the environmental clearance and the No Objection Certificate. It may also be noted that when a worker died in this factory, his family was given a compensation of Rs 5, 000. The factory seemed to have the patronage of Bhojpur administration by donating asbestos roofs to it for its parking. This situation creates a compelling logic for medical investigation of the environmental health status of the village and temple communities living in the vicinity of these units and the workers of these two factories owned by the same company. The probe can reveal the extent of asbestos related diseases in this area because of environmental exposure. 

Let me take the opportunity to mention the  the fact that all asbestos based products have a life-span, it is natural that all asbestos based products are potential asbestos wastes. This state of sad affairs is crying for attention. At present Indian railways is removing asbestos cement roofs from all the railway stations and platforms in Bihar like elsewhere but it is not being disposed of in a scientific and safe manner. 

In view of the above, I submit that the Board must be asked to reiterate its order on immediate closure of Ramco's hazardous factories, to create a Master Plan for decontaminating all asbestos laden government buildings including legislative and judicial buildings and discontinue public procurement of asbestos based products including asbestos cement pipes for water supply in Bihar. It s necessary to initiate preventive action in order to protect present and future generations of Bihar from the silent killer mineral fibers of asbestos which  are akin to a ticking time bomb.

I will be glad to share more relevant information in this regard.

Thanking you in anticipation.

Yours Sincerely

Gopal Krishna, LL.M.

E-mail:krishnaruhnai@gmail.com
Website:www.toxicswatch.com

-- 

Bihar Pollution Control Board yet to order decontamination of asbestos factory site

Now that Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB) has cancelled the No Objection Certificate given to the asbestos factory unit of Tamil Nadu based Nibhi Industries Pvt Ltd in Giddha, Koelwar block, Bhojpur, Bihar is all set to be free of asbestos based factories. Sources have revealed that loans raised in the name of setting up the hazardous factory in question have been diverted to set up a unit Sri Lanka. The veracity of such claims merit separate probe by concerned agencies. 

Notably, Pollution Control Board's action is consistent with the ban in more than 70 countries. These countries have banned production, use, manufacture and trade of the hazardous mineral fiber, asbestos. These countries include: Nepal, Algeria, Czech Republic, Iceland, Malta, Seychelles, Argentina, Denmark, Ireland, Mozambique, Slovakia, Australia, Egypt, Israel, Netherlands, Slovenia, Austria, Estonia, Italy, New Caledonia, South Africa, Bahrain, Finland, Japan, Norway, Spain, Belgium, France, Jordan, Oman, Sweden, Brunei, Gabon, South Korea, Poland, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Germany, Kuwait, Portugal, Turkey, Chile, Greece, Latvia, Qatar, United Kingdom, Croatia, Honduras, Lithuania, Romania, Uruguay, Cyprus, Hungary, Luxembourg and Saudi Arabia. 

In such a backdrop, there is a logical compulsion based on scientific and medical evidence including resolutions of WHO and ILO to ban asbestos of all kinds including white chrysotile asbestos to save life and health of Indians. 

WHO’s views are available at: http://www.who.int/ipcs/assessment/public_health/asbestos/en/

Due to incessant efforts of Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI) and ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA) along with Parwaywarn Bachao Jeewan Bachao Sangharsh Samiti and Parywawarn Swasthya Suraksha Samiti pointing out non-compliance with environmental laws, BSPCB has revoked its emission-consent order and discharge consent order which was valid till 31st March, 2018. Chairman, BSPCB has ordered, the company in question, Tamil Nadu based Nibhi Industries Pvt Ltd. to “close your industrial unit with immediate effect, failing which complaints shall be filed u/ss. 44 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and 37 of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.”   This land allotment was considered to be part of the scam that led to an inquiry into allotments by Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority (BIADA).

In Bhojpur's Giddha village in Koilwar block, the 100,000 MT Capacity Asbestos Fibre Cement Corrugated Sheet, Flat Sheet, Accessories and Light Weight Fly Ash Block Plant acquired 15 acres. The plant site is located adjacent to Ara-Koilwar road. 

When it was repeatedly pointed out the violations of the general and specific conditions given the environmental clearance and NOC by the company, BSPCB took its cognizance. It made inquiries and reached the conclusion that this unit as a non-compliant industry. 

Significantly, questions have been raised against these plants in Bihar Vidhan Sabha and Vidhan Parishad. Abdul Bari Siddiqui, the leader of opposition has raised the issue of hazardous asbestos factories in Vidhan Sabha.

In another related observation Awadhesh Narain Singh Chairperson, Bihar Legislative Council (BLC) and former labour minister said, “buying asbestos is akin to buying cancer” and “pain of asbestos related diseases is worse than the pain of unemployment.” The speech of Chairman, BLC is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9TbemRUkYM

Given the fact that NOC of almost all the asbestos based factories been cancelled by BSPCB, it should ask Nibhi to decontaminate the site of it's factory in Giddha, Koelwar, Bhojpur pursuant to it's cancellation order. The Board ought to order health survey of villagers who reside in the vicinity, staff and teachers of the adjoining Trident B-Ed College and workers who were employed in the factory. Such measures can help establish the liability of the Nibhi and just compensation which ought to be awarded to the victims. 

In India, asbestos mining is technically banned and trade in asbestos waste (dust and fibers) is also banned but the process of banning trade, manufacturing and use of white asbestos is held up due to lobbying at the behest of asbestos producing countries.

Government’s apathy towards victims of primary and secondary exposure of killer asbestos mineral fibers shows that in the conflict between naked lust for profit and public health, it is choosing to be complicit with the former. The legacy of callousness towards victims of asbestos related diseases refuses to learn lessons from the epidemic of such diseases world over due to past usage of asbestos. Asbestos related diseases have a long incubation period ranging from 5-50 years.    

In a message to BANI, Prof. Colin L. Soskolne, University of Alberta, Canada Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, Australia Fellow, American College of Epidemiology and Fellow, Collegium Ramazzini pointed out that asbestos related diseases have a long incubation period ranging from "5 - 50" years" which has serious implications. 

 Union Environment Ministry’s Vision Statement on Environment and Human Health reads, "Alternatives to asbestos may be used to the extent possible and use of asbestos may be phased out" but the Experts Appraisal Committee of this very ministry continues to give environmental clearance to such hazardous industries. This is notwithstanding the fact that "The Government of India is considering the ban on use of chrysotile asbestos in India to protect workers and the general population against primary and secondary exposure," as announced in a concept paper by the Ministry of Labour. Both these documents are available on central government’s website but struggle to make Indians safe from deadly exposure of asbestos fibers continues in the face of misinformation campaign of the killer industry.

Health being a State subject under the Constitution, Bihar ought to take a lead by banning asbestos procurement and use in the state to pave the way for other state governments and the central government to follow.

Responding to anti-asbestos struggle Bihar Chief Minister assured the state assembly in July 2019 that he will puncture this industry and will not allow setting up of such toxic factories in the state but the task of decontaminating asbestos laden factory site like one in Giddha, building, preparing a I'm register of victims of asbestos related diseases, creating an inventory of asbestos based products and announcing a compensation fund for victims of fatal diseases remains to be undertaken. It has reliably been learnt that the preliminary work of identifying victims have begun in a well known cancer hospital in Patna.       

Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI)  has been pursuing the campaign for a nation-wide for more than a decade to save present and future generation from asbestos related diseases. It's effort is aimed at environmental and occupational health justice in compliance with Supreme Court's verdict dated, 27 January, 1995 in CERC v Union of India. 

 FOR DETAILS: Gopal Krishna, Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI), E: krishnagreen@gmail.com