Note: Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI) and Asbestos Mukti Andolan (ABA), Bhojpur, Bihar expresses its opposition to the visit of Bernard Coulombe, executive director, Jeffrey Mine Inc. to India. BANI will take steps to ensure that Indian workers and consumers know the health impact of his visit to India this month to meet with “potential investors” in the killer asbestos mines.
Gopal Krishna
BANI & ABA
==
Asbestos episode a lesson in PR don'ts, expert says
A Quebec asbestos-mining industry executive's experience with a popular satirical television news program is like a "how-not-to" lesson in public relations, says a crisis communications expert.
According to the author of When the Headline is You, the problems began from the moment Jeffrey Mine executive director Bernard Coulombe agreed to appear on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."
"He made a bad decision," Jeff Ansell told CTV's Canada AM, suggesting that Coulombe should have done his homework first.
"There was absolutely zero gain in him appearing on the program," he said. "I mean, if it's W5 calling, you've got to prepare and step up to the plate, but it was not a wise move to do that interview."
In the segment broadcast on May 5, The Daily Show's Mumbai-born reporter Aasif Mandvi ridicules both Coulombe and the industry as he heaps scorn on the practice of mining asbestos in Quebec and exporting the controversial mineral to India for processing.
At one point, he even referred to Coulombe as a "douchebag."
In response, Coulombe issued a press release blasting the "tacky parody" as a mean-spirited attempt to discredit his industry and make the people of Asbestos, Que. who make their living in it "look like ignorant imbeciles."
The type of asbestos his company is extracting is chrysotile, he said, and not the potentially more hazardous amphibole variety.
But Ansell says rather than damage-control, Coulombe's missive "took oil and poured it on the fire," essentially thrusting a waning story back into the headlines of newspapers across the country and around the world.
"He's darn lucky the headline in The Globe and Mail wasn't 'We're Not Ignorant Imbeciles, Claims Poulombe'," Ansell said, suggesting the nuance of the mining executive's explanation was lost and instead served only to rejuvenate a story that might otherwise have flown under the radar.
As it stands, Coulombe now says he's going to have trouble raising the $25 million in private-sector financing he needs to keep the mine going.
In Ansell's view, even though Coulombe felt besmirched by the satirical report, rather than relay his feelings to the whole world he should have reached out to investors privately.
"See if they bring it up, and if they bring it up then he has an explanation: 'Well, you know, clearly I should have done some homework beforehand. I mistakenly presumed this was a credible reporter doing a credible story'," Ansell said.
Prized for its fire-retardant and insulating properties, the fibrous mineral was once used in everything from clothing to coffee pots.
It's now banned in many countries around the world, including all European Union member states, Australia, Chile and Japan. Although there have been widespread efforts to remove it from Canadians schools, homes, hospitals and even the Parliament buildings in the last 20 years, Ottawa has refused to institute a ban.
Instead, this country has risen to become the biggest western supporter of asbestos trade.
Quebec, which is home to the last remaining asbestos mines in Canada, exports 95 per cent of its annual yield to countries such as India and Pakistan.
According to the World Health Organization, some 125 million people are exposed to asbestos at work each year. More than 100,000 die annually from asbestos-related lung cancer, mesothelioma and respiratory diseases.
Kieron Lang, CTV News
May. 22 2011
http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110520/daily-show-asbestos-segment-pr-lessons-110522/20110522/?hub=MontrealHome
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Bhojpur, Bihar & One Sided Story on Asbestos
Bihar Industry Association (BIA) members say that there are 54 asbestos plants which are functional in different parts of India. “Out of this, three are already in Bihar — Bihia, Giddha (Ara) and Mahua (Hajipur),” said a senior BIA member. “Besides, the one in question (near Muzaffapur) and two plants near Bettiah are in the pipe-line,” he said and added, “Still India continues to import huge quantity of asbestos from 28 foreign countries.”
Bihar industry circle is treating the controversy over asbestos plant as a test case for Nitish. Traders argue that an NGO — BANI (Ban Asbestos Network of India) too has jumped into the demonstration fray despite the ruling of apex court headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia on January 21. Questioning the incoherent theories over the issue, he said, “If a rule is applicable throughout India, then it’s also applicable in Bihar.” For the complete story check:
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/136886/asbestos-red-card-green-concern.html
The story above storyprovides only the version of the asbestos industry.
BANI's version is given below:
As to the order dated January 21, 2011, Hon’ble Supreme Court’s bench of Chief Justice of India Justice S.H. Kapadia, Justice K.S. Panicker Radhakrishnan and Justice Swatanter Kumar, it must be noted that it reads: “Canada and Russia are the biggest exporters of white asbestos. In 2007, Canada exported 95% of the white asbestos, it mined out of which 43% was shipped to India. In view of these facts, there is an urgent need for a total ban on the import and use of white asbestos and promote the use of alternative materials.”
Union Environment Ministry’s 19 page Vision Statement on Environment and Human Health (Para 4.3.1) on page 12 which reads: “Alternatives to asbestos may be used to the extent possible and use of asbestos may be phased out”. This is available on Ministry’s website. The Supreme Court's order simply reiterates what is stated in Union Environment Ministry’s Vision Statement on Environment and Human Health which reads: “Alternatives to asbestos may be used to the extent possible and use of asbestos may be phased out”.
The order of Kerala Human Rights Commission (KHRC) recommending ban on use of asbestos roofs for schools and hospitals and National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) terming exposing human beings to asbestos fibers as human rights violation merits serious attention. The KHRC and its chairperson Justice N Dhinakar 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, KHRC ruled that the government should take steps to phase out asbestos roofing from all schools in the state. The commission has directed the state government to replace the asbestos roofs of those school buildings under the government control with country tiles in a phased manner. The government has been directed to initiate measures to ensure that asbestos roofs are replaced with country tiles within a fixed time-frame in the case of schools that are run under the private managements. The state government has been directed to make sure that no new school begins functioning with asbestos roofing in the future. The petition submitted to the commission complained that roofing school buildings with asbestos were hazardous to the health of children.
Hon’ble Supreme Court's order dated 24th October, 2008 wherein prohibition on import of Asbestos into India as it is a major health hazard was sought. According to the petitioner, huge quantity of Asbestos is being imported from other countries causing health problems. The Hon’ble Court asked the matter to be pursued with the Government/appropriate authority. BANI is working in pursuance of the same.
India media must pay attention to the upcoming the 5th Conference of the Parties (COP5) to the UN’s Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade to be held in Geneva wherein the fate of Chrysotile asbestos and some other chemicals will be be decided. The objective of the Rotterdam Convention “is to promote shared responsibility and cooperative efforts among Parties in the international trade of certain hazardous chemicals in order to protect human health and the environment from potential harm.”
In order to meet its objective, COP5 of Rotterdam Convention will consider the inclusion in Annex III of chrysotile asbestos and other chemicals under agenda item 5 c during the meeting scheduled for June 20-24, 2011.
It is noteworthy that the inclusion in Annex III does not equate to a prohibition of trade. It imposes requirements on exporting nations to provide basic information to consumers and customers environmental health hazards due to certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade.
Several attempts to include chrysotile asbestos (White Asbestos) on the prior informed consent list have failed due to the influence of asbestos producing countries who are compelled by their companies led by Quebec based Canadian companies who have succeeded in preventing any action on chrysotile asbestos being taken.
Discussions on chrysotile asbestos at the COP 4 of Rotterdam Convention in 2008 took a decision to examine its listing at COP5 in June 2011.
In a statement Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare had informed the Rajya Sabha saying: “Studies by the National Institute of Occupational Health, Ahmedabad, have shown that long-term exposure to any type of asbestos can lead to the development of asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma” on August 18, 2003.
This clearly implies that white asbestos or Chrysotile asbestos is a health hazard which is essentially what COP5 is to decide in Geneva. As you are aware White asbestos or Chrysotile asbestos is used mainly for water pipes or as roofing sheets in construction industry. Asbestos dust can be inhaled while drilling, cutting a pipe, repairing, renovating or demolishing a building and its effects are far-reaching, affecting everyone from the person mining it to the ultimate consumer. Clinical reports show that asbestosis, mesothelioma and lung cancer can show up even 25 to 40 years after exposure to asbestos.
In our country too, all cases of mesothelioma, an aggressive asbestos-related cancer are linked to asbestos exposure. All the medical colleges in India must teach that most cases of mesothelioma are related to enviro-occupational asbestos exposure that often occurred decades earlier in industries heavily dependent on asbestos-based products. These industries include construction, automobile repair and shipbuilding.
It is a glaring fact that the members of Chrysotile Asbestos Cement Products Manufacturers Association (CACPMA), Asbestos Cement Products Manufacturers Association of India (ASCMA) and other industries based on killer fibers of asbestos are knowingly exposing workers, their families and consumers.
While the medical and financial relief (compensation) for the illness of workers, their families and consumers must be borne by the companies in question, in India because of political patronage members of both CACPMA, ASCMA and others have escaped liability and have not been made accountable.
Bihar industry circle is treating the controversy over asbestos plant as a test case for Nitish. Traders argue that an NGO — BANI (Ban Asbestos Network of India) too has jumped into the demonstration fray despite the ruling of apex court headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia on January 21. Questioning the incoherent theories over the issue, he said, “If a rule is applicable throughout India, then it’s also applicable in Bihar.” For the complete story check:
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/136886/asbestos-red-card-green-concern.html
The story above storyprovides only the version of the asbestos industry.
BANI's version is given below:
As to the order dated January 21, 2011, Hon’ble Supreme Court’s bench of Chief Justice of India Justice S.H. Kapadia, Justice K.S. Panicker Radhakrishnan and Justice Swatanter Kumar, it must be noted that it reads: “Canada and Russia are the biggest exporters of white asbestos. In 2007, Canada exported 95% of the white asbestos, it mined out of which 43% was shipped to India. In view of these facts, there is an urgent need for a total ban on the import and use of white asbestos and promote the use of alternative materials.”
Union Environment Ministry’s 19 page Vision Statement on Environment and Human Health (Para 4.3.1) on page 12 which reads: “Alternatives to asbestos may be used to the extent possible and use of asbestos may be phased out”. This is available on Ministry’s website. The Supreme Court's order simply reiterates what is stated in Union Environment Ministry’s Vision Statement on Environment and Human Health which reads: “Alternatives to asbestos may be used to the extent possible and use of asbestos may be phased out”.
The order of Kerala Human Rights Commission (KHRC) recommending ban on use of asbestos roofs for schools and hospitals and National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) terming exposing human beings to asbestos fibers as human rights violation merits serious attention. The KHRC and its chairperson Justice N Dhinakar 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, KHRC ruled that the government should take steps to phase out asbestos roofing from all schools in the state. The commission has directed the state government to replace the asbestos roofs of those school buildings under the government control with country tiles in a phased manner. The government has been directed to initiate measures to ensure that asbestos roofs are replaced with country tiles within a fixed time-frame in the case of schools that are run under the private managements. The state government has been directed to make sure that no new school begins functioning with asbestos roofing in the future. The petition submitted to the commission complained that roofing school buildings with asbestos were hazardous to the health of children.
Hon’ble Supreme Court's order dated 24th October, 2008 wherein prohibition on import of Asbestos into India as it is a major health hazard was sought. According to the petitioner, huge quantity of Asbestos is being imported from other countries causing health problems. The Hon’ble Court asked the matter to be pursued with the Government/appropriate authority. BANI is working in pursuance of the same.
India media must pay attention to the upcoming the 5th Conference of the Parties (COP5) to the UN’s Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade to be held in Geneva wherein the fate of Chrysotile asbestos and some other chemicals will be be decided. The objective of the Rotterdam Convention “is to promote shared responsibility and cooperative efforts among Parties in the international trade of certain hazardous chemicals in order to protect human health and the environment from potential harm.”
In order to meet its objective, COP5 of Rotterdam Convention will consider the inclusion in Annex III of chrysotile asbestos and other chemicals under agenda item 5 c during the meeting scheduled for June 20-24, 2011.
It is noteworthy that the inclusion in Annex III does not equate to a prohibition of trade. It imposes requirements on exporting nations to provide basic information to consumers and customers environmental health hazards due to certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade.
Several attempts to include chrysotile asbestos (White Asbestos) on the prior informed consent list have failed due to the influence of asbestos producing countries who are compelled by their companies led by Quebec based Canadian companies who have succeeded in preventing any action on chrysotile asbestos being taken.
Discussions on chrysotile asbestos at the COP 4 of Rotterdam Convention in 2008 took a decision to examine its listing at COP5 in June 2011.
In a statement Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare had informed the Rajya Sabha saying: “Studies by the National Institute of Occupational Health, Ahmedabad, have shown that long-term exposure to any type of asbestos can lead to the development of asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma” on August 18, 2003.
This clearly implies that white asbestos or Chrysotile asbestos is a health hazard which is essentially what COP5 is to decide in Geneva. As you are aware White asbestos or Chrysotile asbestos is used mainly for water pipes or as roofing sheets in construction industry. Asbestos dust can be inhaled while drilling, cutting a pipe, repairing, renovating or demolishing a building and its effects are far-reaching, affecting everyone from the person mining it to the ultimate consumer. Clinical reports show that asbestosis, mesothelioma and lung cancer can show up even 25 to 40 years after exposure to asbestos.
In our country too, all cases of mesothelioma, an aggressive asbestos-related cancer are linked to asbestos exposure. All the medical colleges in India must teach that most cases of mesothelioma are related to enviro-occupational asbestos exposure that often occurred decades earlier in industries heavily dependent on asbestos-based products. These industries include construction, automobile repair and shipbuilding.
It is a glaring fact that the members of Chrysotile Asbestos Cement Products Manufacturers Association (CACPMA), Asbestos Cement Products Manufacturers Association of India (ASCMA) and other industries based on killer fibers of asbestos are knowingly exposing workers, their families and consumers.
While the medical and financial relief (compensation) for the illness of workers, their families and consumers must be borne by the companies in question, in India because of political patronage members of both CACPMA, ASCMA and others have escaped liability and have not been made accountable.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Production of Toxic Asbestos Products In Bhojpur, Bihar
Asbestos causes Cancer.There is no doubt about it. Wikipedia confirms the connection between Cancer and Asbestos. Knowing full well the huge environmental and human health impact of Asbestos, most governments in the developed world have banned the use of Asbestos in almost all sectors of the industry.
However, in India, the government seems to be taking a completely opposite view to the production and processing of this dangerous material. The Bihar government has approved the production of asbestos in Bhojpur, Champaran and Vaishali as per the news article here http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Bihars-Singuhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifr-Stir-over-asbestos-plant/articleshow/7449243.cms.
Asbestos is not only dangerous to the workers working there, it is also dangerous to users who use the material in building work. So if there is asbestos in the building that you live in, then there is huge probability of you getting cancer from it.
Asbestos is banned in buildings in the US since the 1970s. Is is not high time that Asbestos gets banned in India too? How many people must be affected by cancer before the government bans it permanently?
If you are in India, please contact your local MP or MLA to demand that asbestos mining be stopped and the use of asbestos in building materials be permanently banned.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Ramakantyadav
However, in India, the government seems to be taking a completely opposite view to the production and processing of this dangerous material. The Bihar government has approved the production of asbestos in Bhojpur, Champaran and Vaishali as per the news article here http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Bihars-Singuhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifr-Stir-over-asbestos-plant/articleshow/7449243.cms.
Asbestos is not only dangerous to the workers working there, it is also dangerous to users who use the material in building work. So if there is asbestos in the building that you live in, then there is huge probability of you getting cancer from it.
Asbestos is banned in buildings in the US since the 1970s. Is is not high time that Asbestos gets banned in India too? How many people must be affected by cancer before the government bans it permanently?
If you are in India, please contact your local MP or MLA to demand that asbestos mining be stopped and the use of asbestos in building materials be permanently banned.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Ramakantyadav
Why putting up an asbestos plant in Bihar is a terrible idea!
Editor’s note: being a laggard in development has obvious disadvantages. But even as an economy like Bihar’s tries to find its feet, one finds that the investment and business offers that come along may be the worst possible, and indeed ones which have been driven out of the relatively developed economies. India has been made numerous offers inherently dangerous for its populace and environment – for example providing dumping space for highly toxic wastes from developed countries for a handsome fee and profit. Are we so desperate that we are ready to get killed in order to find decent lives?
We are publishing below an extract from a letter by the Ban asbestos Network of India to the deputy CM of Bihar, Sushil Kumar Modi. The context for this is the continued struggle of villagers of Bishnupur-Chainpur, Muzaffarpur who have been agitating for ban against the Kolkata-headquartered Balmukund Cement & Roofing Ltd. (BCRL) proposed asbestos cement roofing sheet factory in the Marwan block. the extract from the letter explains in some details the hazards of asbestos.
To
Shri Sushil Kumar Modi
Deputy Chief Minister
Government of Bihar
Subject-Stop Asbestos Cement Plants in Bihar
Sir,
This is to draw your urgent attention towards the proposed asbestos cement roofing sheet factory in Chainpur, Muzaffarpur which is facing massive and unprecedented opposition by the villagers since July 2010. It has come to light that similar plants have been proposed by Chennai based Ramco Industries Limited in Bihiya, Bhojpur and Kolkata based Utkal Asbetsos Industries, in Panapur, Vaishali.
I wish to inform you that The White Asbestos (Ban on Use and Import) Bill, 2009 is pending in the Rajya Sabha. Some 52 countries have already banned it. There is a compelling logic to initiate the process of banning asbestos manufacturing, trade and use in Bihar as well.
It is estimated that “currently about 125 million people in the world are exposed to asbestos at the workplace. According to WHO estimates, more than 107,000 people die each year from asbestos-related lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis resulting from occupational exposures. One in every three deaths from occupational cancer is estimated to be caused by asbestos. In addition, it is estimated that several thousands of deaths can be attributed annually to exposure to asbestos in the living environment.” There is a list of documents reflecting WHO’s assessment of the risks of the different forms of asbestos and WHOs’ technical directions and recommendations for the elimination of asbestos-related diseases. Please find attached a scientifically referenced fact sheet on elimination of asbestos prepared by WHO.
When the world is preparing and planning to get rid of all forms of asbestos, it makes us look stupid in Bihar, India to be still importing it, we should devote our scarce resources to prevent the impending public health disaster by phasing out this killer fiber as soon as we can.
Safer substitute materials for white asbestos are available, they should be considered for use. White (chrysotile) asbestos, which represents 100% of the global asbestos trade is not yet completely banned in India but all the relevant UN agencies have called for its immediate elimination because its safe and controlled use is impossible.
Strangely, India has banned mining of asbestos which used to be done in Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand by banning non-renewal of pre-existing leases including chrysotile asbestos mines due to health hazards from its lethal fibers but allows countries like Canada to dump their asbestos in India. Asbestos waste trade is also banned in India. Besides White Asbestos, all the other forms of asbestos such as Blue Asbestos, Brown Asbestos are banned in India. But Chrysotile (white) asbestos is yet to be banned despite incontrovertible evidence against it.
Asbestos exposure leads to diseases like mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, pleural thickening. Mesothelioma is a cancer which affects the lining of the lungs (pleura) and the lining surrounding the lower digestive tract (peritoneum). It is almost exclusively related to asbestos exposure and by the time it is diagnosed, it is almost always fatal.
These asbestos factories are proposed unmindful of the fact that World Health Organisation (WHO) and International Labour Organisation (ILO) too have called for the elimination of asbestos of all kinds. Delay in stopping asbestos plants in Bihar is a victory for those who do not wish to put health and the environment ahead of commercial interests.
The WHO document says, “Elimination of asbestos-related diseases should take place through the following public health actions: a) recognizing that the most efficient way to eliminate asbestos-related diseases is to stop the use of all types of asbestos; b) replacing asbestos with safer substitutes and developing economic and technological mechanisms to stimulate its replacement; c) taking measures to prevent exposure to asbestos in place and during asbestos removal (abatement), and; d) improving early diagnosis, treatment, social and medical rehabilitation of asbestos-related diseases and establishing registries of people with past and/or current exposures to asbestos.”
In the light of these findings and developments, in short I seek your immediate intervention to stop the construction of proposed asbestos cement plants in Bihar.
We earnestly request you to direct all the workers and consumers in your state to take immediate steps to ensure that there no more exposures take place from now on.
Thanking you in anticipation,
Gopal Krishna, Convener, Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI)
New Delhi
Mb: 9818089660
E-mail:krishna2777@gmail.com
Blog:banasbestosindia.blogspot.com
P.S: Three asbestos plants by Tamil Nadu based Ramco and Nibhi Industries in Giddha, Koilwar and Bihiya Bhojpur is facing opposition. On May 11, 2011 when the Chief Minister visited Bihiya letters were sent to him demanding closure of these killer industries.
We are publishing below an extract from a letter by the Ban asbestos Network of India to the deputy CM of Bihar, Sushil Kumar Modi. The context for this is the continued struggle of villagers of Bishnupur-Chainpur, Muzaffarpur who have been agitating for ban against the Kolkata-headquartered Balmukund Cement & Roofing Ltd. (BCRL) proposed asbestos cement roofing sheet factory in the Marwan block. the extract from the letter explains in some details the hazards of asbestos.
To
Shri Sushil Kumar Modi
Deputy Chief Minister
Government of Bihar
Subject-Stop Asbestos Cement Plants in Bihar
Sir,
This is to draw your urgent attention towards the proposed asbestos cement roofing sheet factory in Chainpur, Muzaffarpur which is facing massive and unprecedented opposition by the villagers since July 2010. It has come to light that similar plants have been proposed by Chennai based Ramco Industries Limited in Bihiya, Bhojpur and Kolkata based Utkal Asbetsos Industries, in Panapur, Vaishali.
I wish to inform you that The White Asbestos (Ban on Use and Import) Bill, 2009 is pending in the Rajya Sabha. Some 52 countries have already banned it. There is a compelling logic to initiate the process of banning asbestos manufacturing, trade and use in Bihar as well.
It is estimated that “currently about 125 million people in the world are exposed to asbestos at the workplace. According to WHO estimates, more than 107,000 people die each year from asbestos-related lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis resulting from occupational exposures. One in every three deaths from occupational cancer is estimated to be caused by asbestos. In addition, it is estimated that several thousands of deaths can be attributed annually to exposure to asbestos in the living environment.” There is a list of documents reflecting WHO’s assessment of the risks of the different forms of asbestos and WHOs’ technical directions and recommendations for the elimination of asbestos-related diseases. Please find attached a scientifically referenced fact sheet on elimination of asbestos prepared by WHO.
When the world is preparing and planning to get rid of all forms of asbestos, it makes us look stupid in Bihar, India to be still importing it, we should devote our scarce resources to prevent the impending public health disaster by phasing out this killer fiber as soon as we can.
Safer substitute materials for white asbestos are available, they should be considered for use. White (chrysotile) asbestos, which represents 100% of the global asbestos trade is not yet completely banned in India but all the relevant UN agencies have called for its immediate elimination because its safe and controlled use is impossible.
Strangely, India has banned mining of asbestos which used to be done in Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand by banning non-renewal of pre-existing leases including chrysotile asbestos mines due to health hazards from its lethal fibers but allows countries like Canada to dump their asbestos in India. Asbestos waste trade is also banned in India. Besides White Asbestos, all the other forms of asbestos such as Blue Asbestos, Brown Asbestos are banned in India. But Chrysotile (white) asbestos is yet to be banned despite incontrovertible evidence against it.
Asbestos exposure leads to diseases like mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, pleural thickening. Mesothelioma is a cancer which affects the lining of the lungs (pleura) and the lining surrounding the lower digestive tract (peritoneum). It is almost exclusively related to asbestos exposure and by the time it is diagnosed, it is almost always fatal.
These asbestos factories are proposed unmindful of the fact that World Health Organisation (WHO) and International Labour Organisation (ILO) too have called for the elimination of asbestos of all kinds. Delay in stopping asbestos plants in Bihar is a victory for those who do not wish to put health and the environment ahead of commercial interests.
The WHO document says, “Elimination of asbestos-related diseases should take place through the following public health actions: a) recognizing that the most efficient way to eliminate asbestos-related diseases is to stop the use of all types of asbestos; b) replacing asbestos with safer substitutes and developing economic and technological mechanisms to stimulate its replacement; c) taking measures to prevent exposure to asbestos in place and during asbestos removal (abatement), and; d) improving early diagnosis, treatment, social and medical rehabilitation of asbestos-related diseases and establishing registries of people with past and/or current exposures to asbestos.”
In the light of these findings and developments, in short I seek your immediate intervention to stop the construction of proposed asbestos cement plants in Bihar.
We earnestly request you to direct all the workers and consumers in your state to take immediate steps to ensure that there no more exposures take place from now on.
Thanking you in anticipation,
Gopal Krishna, Convener, Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI)
New Delhi
Mb: 9818089660
E-mail:krishna2777@gmail.com
Blog:banasbestosindia.blogspot.com
P.S: Three asbestos plants by Tamil Nadu based Ramco and Nibhi Industries in Giddha, Koilwar and Bihiya Bhojpur is facing opposition. On May 11, 2011 when the Chief Minister visited Bihiya letters were sent to him demanding closure of these killer industries.
BANI regrets media’s role in fight against asbestos in Bihar
Patna,(BiharTimes): The Convenor of Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI), Gopal Krishna, has regretted that it is quite disturbing that media in Bihar, obviously at the behest of the state government, is adopting an unscientific and anti-public health approach in dealing with incurable diseases caused by the killer fibers of asbestos.In a letter written to the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Union Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh, Union Health Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, other Union cabinet ministers, BJP leader, Lal Krishna Advani, and Leaders of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley he drew the attention towards the three white asbestos plants being set up in Koilwar and Bihiya in Bhojpur district. He said the villagers are against these three lung cancer causing asbestos plants. Such plants are banned in over 55 countries and work should be stopped here as it had been stopped in Muzaffarpur after a prolong agitation a few months back.
The letter had a declaration signedby seven eminent scientists and jurists of the world with their emails.
According to Krishna alarmed by trend of proposals for new asbestos plants in Bhojpur, Federico Demaria, a Italian researcher based in University of Barcelona, Spain who visited the district recently wrote a letter to the Chief Minister with copies marked to the Deputy Chief Minister, Union Environment Minister and Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI).
In an age when most scientific and medical studies are available online, it does not require great effort to comprehend that there is no alternative to banning use and manufacture of asbestos products in Bihar in the same way as Kerala and Karnataka banned Endosulfan because health is a state subject, he said.
He said that as the State government did take progressive steps in the matter of not following the path of Special Economic Zone (SEZ), GM Food etc it can do the same if it is made to realize that there is no doubt about the eventual ban on asbestos fibers. It is the timing of the ban which is the issue. Will the state government ban it before losing its prestige or will it do so after having lost it?
He said that “if newspapers and news channels appear to be newsletters of the State Government and exercise self-censorship even when manifestly hazardous asbestos plants are being set up, it would lose the right to claim that it works in public interest. One is wondering whether or not media in Bihar has become obedient to the whims and fancies of the state government.”
“If the current trend continues we will be compelled to move to the Press Council of India and to all the other committees which has been formed to deal with the problem of Paid News to complain against such a malaise. It would be difficult to prove with simple content analysis as to how some newspapers and some news channels in particular have censored news against incurable lung cancer causing asbestos plants in Bhojpur. All the practitioners of media in general and trained journalists in particular know that one of the ways to kill news is to localise it and keep it confined to one page that gets inserted in that area. This phenomena is quite visible and merits considered attention,”. Krishna further said.
He asked has any of the newspapers and news channels in Bihar bothered to check Union Environment Ministry's 19 page Vision Statement on Environment and Human Health (Para 4.3.1) on Page 12 reads: "Alternatives to asbestos may be used to the extent possible and use of asbestos may be phased out"?. This is available on Ministry's website.
According to him in Bihiya, there is a proposal to set up a 120,000 MT/Annum capacity of Asbestos Cement Sheet Plant and 200,000 MT/Annum capacity of Asbestos Grinding Plant. The total project area is 20 acres and land is allotted by the state government on lease for 90 years.
In Giddha village in Bhojpur, Tamil Nadu based Nibhi Industries Pvt. Ltd is establishing the 100,000 MT Capacity Asbestos Fiber Cement Corrugated Sheet, Flat Sheet and Accessories and Light Weight Fly Ash Block Plant. This has been approved in SIPB meeting on 19th October, 2009 with a total investment for of Rs 31 crore.
http://www.bihartimes.in/Newsbihar/2011/May/Newsbihar14May2.html
The letter had a declaration signedby seven eminent scientists and jurists of the world with their emails.
According to Krishna alarmed by trend of proposals for new asbestos plants in Bhojpur, Federico Demaria, a Italian researcher based in University of Barcelona, Spain who visited the district recently wrote a letter to the Chief Minister with copies marked to the Deputy Chief Minister, Union Environment Minister and Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI).
In an age when most scientific and medical studies are available online, it does not require great effort to comprehend that there is no alternative to banning use and manufacture of asbestos products in Bihar in the same way as Kerala and Karnataka banned Endosulfan because health is a state subject, he said.
He said that as the State government did take progressive steps in the matter of not following the path of Special Economic Zone (SEZ), GM Food etc it can do the same if it is made to realize that there is no doubt about the eventual ban on asbestos fibers. It is the timing of the ban which is the issue. Will the state government ban it before losing its prestige or will it do so after having lost it?
He said that “if newspapers and news channels appear to be newsletters of the State Government and exercise self-censorship even when manifestly hazardous asbestos plants are being set up, it would lose the right to claim that it works in public interest. One is wondering whether or not media in Bihar has become obedient to the whims and fancies of the state government.”
“If the current trend continues we will be compelled to move to the Press Council of India and to all the other committees which has been formed to deal with the problem of Paid News to complain against such a malaise. It would be difficult to prove with simple content analysis as to how some newspapers and some news channels in particular have censored news against incurable lung cancer causing asbestos plants in Bhojpur. All the practitioners of media in general and trained journalists in particular know that one of the ways to kill news is to localise it and keep it confined to one page that gets inserted in that area. This phenomena is quite visible and merits considered attention,”. Krishna further said.
He asked has any of the newspapers and news channels in Bihar bothered to check Union Environment Ministry's 19 page Vision Statement on Environment and Human Health (Para 4.3.1) on Page 12 reads: "Alternatives to asbestos may be used to the extent possible and use of asbestos may be phased out"?. This is available on Ministry's website.
According to him in Bihiya, there is a proposal to set up a 120,000 MT/Annum capacity of Asbestos Cement Sheet Plant and 200,000 MT/Annum capacity of Asbestos Grinding Plant. The total project area is 20 acres and land is allotted by the state government on lease for 90 years.
In Giddha village in Bhojpur, Tamil Nadu based Nibhi Industries Pvt. Ltd is establishing the 100,000 MT Capacity Asbestos Fiber Cement Corrugated Sheet, Flat Sheet and Accessories and Light Weight Fly Ash Block Plant. This has been approved in SIPB meeting on 19th October, 2009 with a total investment for of Rs 31 crore.
http://www.bihartimes.in/Newsbihar/2011/May/Newsbihar14May2.html
Quebec's trade union confederation opposes asbestos industry
Note that the second biggest trade union confederation in Quebec has taken a position opposing the asbestos industry. The Parti Québécois, which is the official Opposition party in Quebec and likely to form the Quebec government at the next election in a year or so, has said that it is very concerned about the asbestos issue and has taken a position opposing any financing for the Jeffrey mine project until first a parliamentary hearing is held to hear the concerns of the scientists and medical experts.
Kathleen Ruff
U.S. comedia Jon Stewart poses for a photo at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles ahead of his appearance as Oscar host on Feb. 20, 2008. - U.S. comedia Jon Stewart poses for a photo at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles ahead of his appearance as Oscar host on Feb. 20, 2008. | AP
Comment
Harper’s in and Canada’s back – just ask Jon Stewart
Gerald Caplan
Globe and Mail, May. 20, 2011
256 comments Canada is back on the world stage, Stephen Harper triumphantly proclaimed way back in the unstable days of minority government. In those ancient times, the Prime Minister saw foreign policy, as he saw everything that lived and breathed, as an opportunity to divide Canadians. Play exclusively to the base, expand that base by exquisitely calculated fractions, and let the majority of the country go hang.
Jon Stewart takes aim at Asbestos
Politically, it worked like a dream. You parade your yawning indifference to climate change with gratifying results: Canada gets singled out for ridicule by international environmental groups, proving to deniers and unthinking business types alike that Harper is indeed their main man.
You make yourself the servile handmaiden of the ultra-right, ultra-nationalist government of Israel. You’re the last man standing to demand that Egyptian president Mubarak resign. It’s perfect for picking up maybe another two or three seats from the Liberals, and never mind that Canada loses all currency with progressive forces in the Arab and Muslim worlds and those who cheer them on.
And then there’s the supreme triumph of the G8 and G20 meetings, which showed the world exactly how ready Mr. Harper's Canada was to emerge as a major power.
Of course there are occasional minor penalties to pay for running a foreign policy dedicated to unremitting partisanship at home. Just last October, for example, Canada decisively lost its presumed slam-dunk bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council. Somehow not even gifting precious Canadian maple syrup to UN members was enough to gain their votes. Commenting on this stinging repudiation of Canada's foreign policy, then-Foreign Affairs minister Lawrence Cannon declared: “I do not in any way see this as a repudiation of Canada's foreign policy.” The PM himself, a mensch to the bitter end, blamed Michael Ignatieff.
Now with majority government has come speculation – but no evidence – that Mr. Harper might be interested in a foreign policy that was actually about policy, not politics. Whether John Baird’s elevation to Foreign Minister supports that speculation or not is ambiguous at best. But as luck would have it, one particular issue has emerged that will offer immediate illumination.
Back in February, The New York Times ran a long piece by its Canadian correspondent Ian Austen describing this country’s asbestos scandal, a subject this space has described on several occasions. It noted the ongoing support by the Harper and Charest governments for a small Quebec-based industry whose product kills anyone in contact with it. A tiny lobby wants to continue sending our asbestos, effectively banned in Canada, to poor countries like India and Indonesia where it will kill those who work with it.
The Times article caught the attention of someone at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and before you could say lung cancer, Aasif Mandvi, one of the show’s several “correspondents,” had found Kathleen Ruff in British Columbia. No one in the world has been more active in exposing Canada's asbestos shame. Mr. Mandvi soon realized he had the perfect material for a classic Daily Show interview with a sucker who was guilty of wrongdoing and was glad to boast about it on television.
The video has now gone viral, helpfully supplemented by a separate story about its content. Hardly a news organization in Canada has failed to carry it, including this newspaper. The five-minute segment makes anyone who promotes the mining and exporting of asbestos appear to be either delusional or villainous, off their rockers or immoral. This includes the Prime Minister of Canada and the Premier of Quebec. As Aasif Mandvi sums it up, and as every health authority on earth strongly agrees, asbestos is just another word for “slow, hacking death.”
So untypically outraged does Mr. Mandvi become that he drops his ironic demeanor and lashes out at apologists for asbestos exports: “That’s really f----ed up,” he declares on camera. “My family is over there [in India]. That’s selling them things that are going to kill them.”
Just wait till Jon Stewart’s crew discovers that Stephen Harper has now promoted his government’s single most enthusiastic promoter of asbestos exports, Christian Paradis, to be his new Industry Minister. As it happens, one of the only remaining asbestos mine in Canada is in Mr. Paradis’s riding.
The Daily Show segment can only be seen a yet another serious international humiliation for Canada carefully crafted by Stephen Harper. Mr. Stewart’s devout fans around the world have to be asking: What kind of people run Canada anyway? Canadians themselves will simply watch and cringe, mortified.
By coincidence, we will know a lot more about the people who run our country very soon. On June 20, a meeting convenes in Geneva of the 143 nations, including Canada, that have ratified the UN’s Rotterdam Convention. The little-known but vital convention covers pesticides and industrial chemicals that have been banned or severely restricted for health or environmental reasons.
Delegates will vote on a recommendation of the convention’s expert scientific body to put chrysotile asbestos (the only form of asbestos traded in the world today, and the form mined in Quebec) on the its list of hazardous substances. As Prime Minister, Stephen Harper has repeatedly joined with a handful of other countries in blocking this recommendation, putting the interests of the asbestos industry ahead of global health. As of now, he is pledged to continue this remarkable stand.
Here is the perfect issue for the Official Opposition NDP to pursue immediately and loudly. Happily enough, 76 per cent of Quebeckers oppose government financing for an asbestos mine with only 14 per cent in favour. Shamefully enough, this tiny minority includes most Quebec trade-union leaders.
Because of the unions’ position, the Parti Québécois and the Bloc Québécois, despite knowing full well the lethal consequences, have backed the continued export of asbestos. But not Jack Layton and the NDP. For its unequivocal opposition to asbestos use, the Steelworkers Union in Quebec publicly announced it would refuse to support the NDP in the May 2 elections. As a result, common wisdom in the province held that the party would be toast in Quebec and would lose its one and only seat. Some toast! Some loss!
Given the Rotterdam meeting, Stephen Harper must within weeks make clear exactly what kind of foreign policy he intends to conduct with his unassailable majority, and what kind of Canada he intends to show the world. Is Canada back? Or is Canada going backwards?
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/second-reading/gerald-caplan/harpers-in-and-canadas-back-just-ask-jon-stewart/article2028820/singlepage/#articlecontent
Kathleen Ruff
U.S. comedia Jon Stewart poses for a photo at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles ahead of his appearance as Oscar host on Feb. 20, 2008. - U.S. comedia Jon Stewart poses for a photo at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles ahead of his appearance as Oscar host on Feb. 20, 2008. | AP
Comment
Harper’s in and Canada’s back – just ask Jon Stewart
Gerald Caplan
Globe and Mail, May. 20, 2011
256 comments Canada is back on the world stage, Stephen Harper triumphantly proclaimed way back in the unstable days of minority government. In those ancient times, the Prime Minister saw foreign policy, as he saw everything that lived and breathed, as an opportunity to divide Canadians. Play exclusively to the base, expand that base by exquisitely calculated fractions, and let the majority of the country go hang.
Jon Stewart takes aim at Asbestos
Politically, it worked like a dream. You parade your yawning indifference to climate change with gratifying results: Canada gets singled out for ridicule by international environmental groups, proving to deniers and unthinking business types alike that Harper is indeed their main man.
You make yourself the servile handmaiden of the ultra-right, ultra-nationalist government of Israel. You’re the last man standing to demand that Egyptian president Mubarak resign. It’s perfect for picking up maybe another two or three seats from the Liberals, and never mind that Canada loses all currency with progressive forces in the Arab and Muslim worlds and those who cheer them on.
And then there’s the supreme triumph of the G8 and G20 meetings, which showed the world exactly how ready Mr. Harper's Canada was to emerge as a major power.
Of course there are occasional minor penalties to pay for running a foreign policy dedicated to unremitting partisanship at home. Just last October, for example, Canada decisively lost its presumed slam-dunk bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council. Somehow not even gifting precious Canadian maple syrup to UN members was enough to gain their votes. Commenting on this stinging repudiation of Canada's foreign policy, then-Foreign Affairs minister Lawrence Cannon declared: “I do not in any way see this as a repudiation of Canada's foreign policy.” The PM himself, a mensch to the bitter end, blamed Michael Ignatieff.
Now with majority government has come speculation – but no evidence – that Mr. Harper might be interested in a foreign policy that was actually about policy, not politics. Whether John Baird’s elevation to Foreign Minister supports that speculation or not is ambiguous at best. But as luck would have it, one particular issue has emerged that will offer immediate illumination.
Back in February, The New York Times ran a long piece by its Canadian correspondent Ian Austen describing this country’s asbestos scandal, a subject this space has described on several occasions. It noted the ongoing support by the Harper and Charest governments for a small Quebec-based industry whose product kills anyone in contact with it. A tiny lobby wants to continue sending our asbestos, effectively banned in Canada, to poor countries like India and Indonesia where it will kill those who work with it.
The Times article caught the attention of someone at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and before you could say lung cancer, Aasif Mandvi, one of the show’s several “correspondents,” had found Kathleen Ruff in British Columbia. No one in the world has been more active in exposing Canada's asbestos shame. Mr. Mandvi soon realized he had the perfect material for a classic Daily Show interview with a sucker who was guilty of wrongdoing and was glad to boast about it on television.
The video has now gone viral, helpfully supplemented by a separate story about its content. Hardly a news organization in Canada has failed to carry it, including this newspaper. The five-minute segment makes anyone who promotes the mining and exporting of asbestos appear to be either delusional or villainous, off their rockers or immoral. This includes the Prime Minister of Canada and the Premier of Quebec. As Aasif Mandvi sums it up, and as every health authority on earth strongly agrees, asbestos is just another word for “slow, hacking death.”
So untypically outraged does Mr. Mandvi become that he drops his ironic demeanor and lashes out at apologists for asbestos exports: “That’s really f----ed up,” he declares on camera. “My family is over there [in India]. That’s selling them things that are going to kill them.”
Just wait till Jon Stewart’s crew discovers that Stephen Harper has now promoted his government’s single most enthusiastic promoter of asbestos exports, Christian Paradis, to be his new Industry Minister. As it happens, one of the only remaining asbestos mine in Canada is in Mr. Paradis’s riding.
The Daily Show segment can only be seen a yet another serious international humiliation for Canada carefully crafted by Stephen Harper. Mr. Stewart’s devout fans around the world have to be asking: What kind of people run Canada anyway? Canadians themselves will simply watch and cringe, mortified.
By coincidence, we will know a lot more about the people who run our country very soon. On June 20, a meeting convenes in Geneva of the 143 nations, including Canada, that have ratified the UN’s Rotterdam Convention. The little-known but vital convention covers pesticides and industrial chemicals that have been banned or severely restricted for health or environmental reasons.
Delegates will vote on a recommendation of the convention’s expert scientific body to put chrysotile asbestos (the only form of asbestos traded in the world today, and the form mined in Quebec) on the its list of hazardous substances. As Prime Minister, Stephen Harper has repeatedly joined with a handful of other countries in blocking this recommendation, putting the interests of the asbestos industry ahead of global health. As of now, he is pledged to continue this remarkable stand.
Here is the perfect issue for the Official Opposition NDP to pursue immediately and loudly. Happily enough, 76 per cent of Quebeckers oppose government financing for an asbestos mine with only 14 per cent in favour. Shamefully enough, this tiny minority includes most Quebec trade-union leaders.
Because of the unions’ position, the Parti Québécois and the Bloc Québécois, despite knowing full well the lethal consequences, have backed the continued export of asbestos. But not Jack Layton and the NDP. For its unequivocal opposition to asbestos use, the Steelworkers Union in Quebec publicly announced it would refuse to support the NDP in the May 2 elections. As a result, common wisdom in the province held that the party would be toast in Quebec and would lose its one and only seat. Some toast! Some loss!
Given the Rotterdam meeting, Stephen Harper must within weeks make clear exactly what kind of foreign policy he intends to conduct with his unassailable majority, and what kind of Canada he intends to show the world. Is Canada back? Or is Canada going backwards?
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/second-reading/gerald-caplan/harpers-in-and-canadas-back-just-ask-jon-stewart/article2028820/singlepage/#articlecontent
Help ban asbestos in South Asia
Help ban asbestos
Asbestos has been banned in many leading industrialised countries of the world. Sadly this scourge is still accepted at the import terminals of Pakistan and India as well.
Asbestos is the name given to a group of naturally-occurring minerals that are resistant to heat and corrosion. Asbestos is used in products, such as insulation for pipes (steam lines for example), floor tiles, building materials, and vehicles’ brakes and clutches.
Heavy exposures tend to occur in the construction industry and in ship repair, particularly during the removal of asbestos due to renovation, repairs, or demolition.
Workers are likely to be exposed during the manufacture of asbestos products (such as textiles, friction products, insulation, and other building materials) and during brake and clutch repair work of automobiles.
Our shipbreaking industry needs to be heavily regulated for chemical exposure while stripping down ships. Workers need to be informed to protect themselves from the fumes and dust particles in their work environment.
Asbestos workers have an increased chance of getting two major types of cancer: cancer of the lung tissue and mesothelioma, a cancer of the thin membrane that surrounds the lungs and other internal organs.
These diseases do not develop immediately following exposure to asbestos, but signs appear only after a number of years.
I request lawmakers to legislate on the lines used in the US and Europe. They should help protect the unwary and uneducated worker of this country.
ASAD JANJUA
Peshawar
Source: http://www.dawn.com/2011/05/18/help-ban-asbestos.html
Asbestos has been banned in many leading industrialised countries of the world. Sadly this scourge is still accepted at the import terminals of Pakistan and India as well.
Asbestos is the name given to a group of naturally-occurring minerals that are resistant to heat and corrosion. Asbestos is used in products, such as insulation for pipes (steam lines for example), floor tiles, building materials, and vehicles’ brakes and clutches.
Heavy exposures tend to occur in the construction industry and in ship repair, particularly during the removal of asbestos due to renovation, repairs, or demolition.
Workers are likely to be exposed during the manufacture of asbestos products (such as textiles, friction products, insulation, and other building materials) and during brake and clutch repair work of automobiles.
Our shipbreaking industry needs to be heavily regulated for chemical exposure while stripping down ships. Workers need to be informed to protect themselves from the fumes and dust particles in their work environment.
Asbestos workers have an increased chance of getting two major types of cancer: cancer of the lung tissue and mesothelioma, a cancer of the thin membrane that surrounds the lungs and other internal organs.
These diseases do not develop immediately following exposure to asbestos, but signs appear only after a number of years.
I request lawmakers to legislate on the lines used in the US and Europe. They should help protect the unwary and uneducated worker of this country.
ASAD JANJUA
Peshawar
Source: http://www.dawn.com/2011/05/18/help-ban-asbestos.html
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