‘Slow Poison’ Chokes Indian Workers Feeding $7 Slum Roof Demand

‘Slow Poison’ Chokes Indian Workers Feeding $7 Slum Roof Demand

Bloomberg, Jun 7, 2011. By Adi Narayan and Andrew MacAskill

1) Rajendra Pevekar, center, and his mother Indira pose for a photograph inside their house in the Ghatkopar neighborhood of Mumbai, India. Photographer: Adeel Halim/Bloomberg

2) Rajendra Pevekar holds a photograph of his late father Ladoji Pavekar inside his house in the Ghatkopar neighborhood of Mumbai, India. Photographer: Adeel Halim/Bloomberg

3) Rajendra Pevekar holds up asbestosis medication for a photograph inside his house in the Ghatkopar neighborhood of Mumbai. Photographer: Adeel Halim/Bloomberg

4) Rajendra Pevekar holds up a chest x-ray belonging to his mother Indira for a photograph inside his house in the Ghatkopar neighborhood of Mumbai, India. Photographer: Adeel Halim/Bloomberg

5) Slum dwellings with asbestos rooftops stand in Mumbai, India. Photographer: Adeel Halim/Bloomberg

6) A woman stands at a vegetable stall in a slum dwelling with asbestos rooftops in Mumbai, India. Photographer: Adeel Halim/Bloomberg

One thing Rajendra Pevekar remembers from falling asleep on his father’s chest as a child is the smell of burnt plastic and the shiny specks of dust sticking to his clothes.

What Pevekar didn’t know was that the dust had a name -- asbestos -- and a record of wrecking the lungs of those who inhale it. Only last year did he draw a connection between the fiber from the auto-parts factory where his father worked sweeping the floor, the man’s early death, the disease that left his mother crippled and his own shortness of breath.

“This is a slow poison,” Pevekar said in an interview at his home in Mumbai’s working class neighborhood of Ghatkopar. “It destroys your lungs and you don’t even know it.”

Pevekar’s mother was among the first Indians last December to get paid about 700,000 rupees ($16,000) -- more than 10 times her son’s annual income -- from a Manchester, England-based trust established by factory owner Turner & Newall Plc. The payment was compensation for asbestosis, an occupational disease first identified in the U.K. in 1906. Last month, another 40 workers received payouts, bringing the year’s tally to a record 70 million rupees.

The lessons learned by richer nations like the U.K. and Germany, which banned asbestos in factories decades ago, are slow to take hold in India, where demand for a sturdy material to make roofs for millions of slum-dwellers serving the world’s second fastest-growing major economy has overpowered concerns about worker safety.

Roofs Needed

India is the largest importer of asbestos, according to the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database. Most of it goes into making corrugated roofing sheets that sell for as little as 300 rupees ($7). More than 100,000 people in India are employed by companies producing the material, according to the Asbestos Cement Producers Association, an industry lobby group.

“It is totally outrageous,” said Gopal Krishna, founder of the Ban Asbestos Network of India. “We’ve known that this stuff is deadly for many years and the government is not banning it. In fact, they are making asbestos artificially cheaper by giving incentives.”

A 15 percent duty is payable on asbestos imports, according to the Ministry of Commerce & Industry. The tariff, which stood at 78 percent in 1995, has been gradually cut over the past decade, Krishna said. Imports totaled 322,200 metric tons in 2009, UN data shows. Asbestos mining is allowed for permit holders, though the government stopped granting licenses in 1986.

Homes will be unaffordable for 38 million families in India by 2030 based on projected market prices, McKinsey & Co. estimated last year. The need for cheap roofing and piping material is fueling asbestos shipments from Russia, Brazil and Canada, where the use of the raw material is restricted in Canadian factories.

Pawned Jewelry

Pevekar’s troubles began when his 71-year-old mother, Indira, developed a debilitating shortness of breath in 2003, 11 years after her husband died from an ailment diagnosed as bronchial asthma. Indira has been hospitalized more than six times since then, recalls Pevekar, who ferries her to medical appointments at least once a month.

Bills began to mount.

“We pawned jewelry, borrowed from friends, relatives and money lenders to pay for all these expenses,” Pevekar said.

That held the family back, forcing him and his brother to stay in the same slum house where they grew up and continue to care for Indira, who is partially bedridden and can’t use the bathroom without help.

Pevekar said he came to understand the connection between his mother’s woes, his father’s death and his own pulmonary problems in February 2010, when he attended an event organized by a non-profit organization to inform workers and their children of what is called secondary exposure to asbestos.

Natural Fiber

“Before that, I had no idea,” he said. “At the event, I asked the organizers to check my mother for asbestosis.”

Indira and another worker’s wife were the first two women to receive compensation from Turner in India, according to Pralhad Malvadkar, head of the Occupational Health and Safety Centre, which organized the event Pevekar attended.

Asbestos is the name given to six natural fibers about 1,200 times smaller than a strand of human hair that can be woven like fabric. Their resistance to fire, heat and chemicals makes them well suited to the construction and auto industries.

The fibrous mineral has been used for the last 140 years in construction. Evidence of its harmful effects began appearing a century ago and national bans were first enacted in the 1970s.

Bruise Lungs

Harm occurs when the asbestos fibers are inhaled. They bruise the lung tissue, leaving behind scars that accumulate and cripple the organ’s ability to process oxygen, said Arthur Frank, a professor of public health at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

“If you think of the lung as a balloon that expands and contracts, it’s as if the capacity of the balloon is reduced,” Frank, who specializes in asbestos-related diseases, said in a telephone interview. Chest X-rays identify the scars with characteristic squiggle marks.

The fibers can also lead to the development of lung cancers, including a rare malignancy of the lining of the lungs and abdomen known as mesothelioma, which often causes stabbing chest pains and can be fatal within 18 months.

“Even a day or a month at an asbestos factory can do you in,” said Frank, adding that there is no safe minimum level of exposure. It can take 20 years or more for symptoms to appear, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s website.

Rockets and Millionaires

India has ranked behind China as the briskest-growing major economy for much of the past decade, sending rockets into space and giving rise to a class of entrepreneurs and billionaires. The speed of industrialization has outpaced improvements in infant survival, infrastructure and workplace conditions.

“It’s a difficult issue,” said David Heymann, chairman of the U.K. Health Protection Agency. “Some countries say: ‘We’re developing just like you did during the industrial revolution.’ The difference is that, now, we know what asbestos does.”

India’s use of the material since the 1980s is equal to the amount used by the U.K. during its entire industrial history, according to estimates by the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat, a London-based umbrella group of non-profit organizations.

As many as 55 countries including Japan and all members of the European Union have banned asbestos in factories, buildings and car parts. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency selectively bans the material in products such as spray-on paint and pipe insulation.

Mine in Quebec

Canada was India’s second-largest overseas supplier of asbestos in 2009, trailing Russia, according to the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics database.

The Quebec government approved in April a C$58 million ($60 million) loan guarantee to a group of Canadian and Indian investors, enabling them to expand production at the Jeffrey Mine, said Jolyane Pronovost, a spokeswoman for Quebec’s economic development ministry. The assistance is conditional on the investor group securing C$25 million in additional financing by July 1, she said.

To secure the loan guarantee, the owners of the Jeffrey mine had to commit to annual checks by an independent auditor of their clients to ensure that the white, or chrysotile, form of asbestos is being used safely and meets Quebec standards, Pronovost said.

“Our position hasn’t changed,” she said in a May 31 telephone interview. “We support the safe use of chrysotile.”

Supply Stalwart

The decision, opposed by public health groups including the Canadian Cancer Society, may allow one of Canada’s last remaining asbestos mines to produce 250,000 metric tons annually, said one of the investors, Baljit Chadha, an India-born businessman who made his fortune trading nuts and dried fruit.

At that capacity, the mine would produce more than an eighth of global asbestos production, according to 2010 estimates from the U.S. Geological Survey. About 40 percent of the mineral may end up in India, and sales will generate $130 million in revenue, Chadha estimated.

“I’m going into this with an absolutely clear conscience,” said Chadha, who disputes the risks asbestos poses, citing an open letter from six European and North American doctors published last year which said the chrysotile that emerges from the mine isn’t dangerous for workers as long as it’s “properly controlled.”

All forms of asbestos are carcinogenic, according to the World Health Organization. The Geneva-based UN agency estimates that one person dies every 5 minutes from an asbestos-related disease somewhere in the world, causing 107,000 deaths annually.

Canada’s Natural Resources Ministry declined to comment on asbestos exports to India and deferred questions about the Jeffrey mine expansion to the Quebec provincial government.

Tainted Water

While living under an asbestos roof may be less harmful than working with it in a factory, the risk isn’t negligible, said Drexel University’s Frank. In the monsoon season, rainwater can seep through the roof, mixing with the fiber. Data on the dangers from drinking asbestos-tainted water isn’t conclusive, though some studies have found a small increase in deaths from cancers of the stomach and colon among people who ingested it, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Pevekar installed a plastic sheet under his roof last year after learning about the risks of asbestos, stopping tainted water from dripping onto his sleeping children like it had for years before.

Giant Mixing Vats

In India, government regulation about asbestos exposure is lax, said Jagdish Parikh, a retired deputy director of the National Institute of Occupational Health in the west Indian city of Ahmedabad. Factory owners often don’t ensure that pollutant levels are below regulatory limits and inspections are infrequent, he said.

While workers receive regular medical check-ups by a company-approved doctor, the reports aren’t routinely given to employees, who may not be informed that that they are suffering from an occupational disease, said Malvadkar at the Occupational Health and Safety Centre. The claim was repeated by more than 10 current and former laborers at asbestos factories in Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

At Everest Industries Ltd. (EVI)’s roof factory in the village of Lakhmapur, a four-hour drive from Mumbai, cement, asbestos, water and materials including discarded denim fiber are mixed in giant vats. The cavernous shop floor, large enough to accommodate two jumbo jets, has no visible exhaust system.

No Exhaust

“It is a well ventilated area as per the requirement,” said K.K. Rameshan, the plant’s general manager. “No exhaust system is needed here.”

About two dozen workers whose clothes carried traces of gray dust were seen operating machinery, cleaning, and handling raw materials and finished roof sheets during a factory tour last month. Only two of the workers were seen working with a face mask. One was assigned to the “asbestos room,” where 110- pound sacks from Russia and Kazakhstan are stacked around a machine with green, peeling paint that crushes chunks of the mineral for mixing with cement.

“The entire unopened bag is put into the machine and there is no exposure to air,” said Rameshan, shouting to be heard over the rumble of machinery as he led visitors through the factory. “It’s completely safe.”

The plant’s in-house doctor, Dinesh Thakare, said workers get their lung function assessed as part of a broader checkup, and chest X-rays are conducted every three years. So far, he hasn’t seen any sign of asbestosis, he said.

“The reason is this is a very slow-progressing disease, it takes 15 to 20 years, and in these kind of modern units all kinds of precautions are taken,” said Thakare, who keeps a copy of the Encyclopedia of Occupational Health and Safety, a 4,000- page reference book, on his desk.

`So Shocking'

Once workers suffer health problems, the process of seeking damages is arduous. Patients need an official certificate from the government-run Employee State Insurance Corporation to be eligible for disability compensation. Only 54 workers in asbestos-related industries received compensation from the agency up to 2009, says Madhumita Dutta from the Ban Asbestos Network in the southern city of Chennai. She didn’t have an estimate for 2010.

“It’s shocking that so few have been compensated, given that hundreds of thousands of people have been working in this industry for decades,” Dutta said in a May 30 interview.

Compensation is often elusive because proving that exposure at work is the direct cause of disease is difficult, said P.K. Nag, director of the National Institute of Occupational Health, a government agency that studies work-related diseases. Asbestos “is harmful, there is no doubt about that,” Nag said.

Job Threat

Some employees don’t apply for fear of losing their job. Those who do seek redress are often frustrated by bureaucratic hurdles, said Raghunath Manwar, a union activist who is trying to get compensation for workers making roofing sheets and other asbestos products at a factory owned by Gujarat Composites Ltd. in Ahmedabad.

“I have been going to the government office for the last five years, but they keep sending me back,” said Chinnappan Chinnakannu, 57, one of the workers who Manwar is helping.

A request to interview Gujarat Composites managers made in person outside its gated compound was refused by five staff members, who said that asbestos is safe and poses no risk to workers. They declined to allow access to the factory or give their names.

‘Delaying Tactic’

“We maintain all the safety procedures that are required,” said D.K. Dutta, the factory’s general manager, in a May 17 telephone interview. He declined to elaborate on safety measures.

Factory worker Chinnakannu doesn’t hold his employer completely to blame. It took two years for his case to go to a medical board appointed by the state of Gujarat, where Ahmedabad is located, he said. That’s in part because Manwar’s group had to file a request under the Right to Information Act, the Indian equivalent of the Freedom of Information Act.

Chinnakannu gathered medical records according to the government board’s guidelines, only to be told the chest X-rays and lung function reports weren’t presented the right way, he said. The medical board has heard his case three times over the past three years, he said.

“They tell you how to conduct the tests and then don’t accept the reports,” Manwar said in an interview. “It’s just a delaying tactic.”

Avoiding Insolvency

That means Indian companies that use asbestos, including Everest, Gujarat Composites, Visaka Industries Ltd. (VSKI), and Hyderabad Industries Ltd. (HYI) don’t face the same kinds of disability claims that pushed Turner & Newall into insolvency, according to Dutta of the Ban Asbestos network. U.S. auto-parts maker Federal-Mogul Corp. (FDML), which acquired Turner & Newall, filed for bankruptcy protection in 2001. A judge ruled four years later that the company might face $9.4 billion in death and injury claims triggered by asbestos-related conditions.

A bill pending in the upper house of India’s parliament proposes a ban on the use, trade and manufacture of the material. While it’s supported by scientists and health officials, it lacks the backing of any major political party.

That means it’s unlikely to be passed into law anytime soon, said lawmaker Vijay Jawaharlal Darda. Darda, who is a member of the ruling Congress party, introduced the measure after more asbestos companies tried to set up factories in his home state of Maharashtra.

India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare deferred all questions to its labor counterpart, saying the health of factory workers doesn’t come under its purview. S.R. Joshi, deputy director general, and Vandana Sharma, deputy secretary for industrial safety and health at the Ministry of Labour and Employment, declined to be interviewed.

‘Looming Time Bomb’

“I will have to study the impact,” Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said when asked whether asbestos should be banned. “I haven’t been able to put my mind to it yet.” Ramesh, who has held the post for two years, declined to comment further.

India faces a “looming time bomb” of serious health problems in workers because companies aren’t penalized for compromising on employee safety and most doctors don’t know how to diagnose occupational diseases, said Laurie Kazan-Allen, coordinator of the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat.

The government requires factory operators to ensure that workers aren’t exposed to air containing more than 1 fiber per cubic centimeter. That’s 10 times the maximum prescribed limit by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Employers in India must provide gloves, helmets and masks for workers, though wearing them isn’t mandatory. Employees must receive regular medical checkups, including X-rays and lung function tests, and the government notified of patients with an occupational disease.

Company Onus

“The onus is on the company to declare every case and the government doesn’t independently monitor the worker’s health,” said Parikh, the retired occupational health agency official.

Some Indian villagers aren’t waiting for legislative changes to begin protecting their communities.

Clashes between protesters and police erupted in December and January in a village called Chainpur, in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, as local residents blocked the entrance to a plant being built by Balmukund Cement & Roofings Ltd. to make asbestos roof sheets. The Kolkata-based company stands by the claim made in its proposal to the state government that the land is barren, said P.S. Ray, a project director. The majority of villagers support the factory, he said.

Red walls that surround the factory under construction border wheat fields and are within 500 meters (547 yards) of a primary school and hundreds of straw-hut homes.

Protest Injuries

“The government thinks we are so desperate for jobs that we will accept a factory that will poison our children,” said Saraswati Devi, 50, a landless farm-laborer, pointing to a cast on her right arm she said was the result of a police beating.

Pevekar has started taking part in demonstrations against asbestos manufacturing in Mumbai.

“This needs to stop,” he said. “I don’t want anyone to go through what we went through.”

There isn’t one country, corporation or system to blame, said Heymann of the U.K. health agency, who was assistant director-general of the WHO for health security and environment until 2009.

“It’s not always the ‘big bad North’,” he said in an interview. “Sometimes these countries should be protecting their people and to protect them, there are certain things they should be requiring of these companies.”

‘Darling Son’

Pevekar was 3 years old when he, his mother and his four siblings moved to a slum in Mumbai, where their father had found a job sweeping the floors at the Hindustan Ferodo factory, Turner’s Indian subsidiary that made asbestos brake pads for cars and scooters. By sharing a single room measuring 9-feet-by- 11-feet they all risked inhaling fine dust particles from the elder Pevekar’s clothes.

“Rajendra was the darling son,” said Indira, Pevekar’s mother. “He would fall asleep lying on his father’s chest, hugging him.”

Pevekar isn’t sure what price he may have to pay for his exposure in childhood, he said. He can’t climb more than two flights of steps, has to walk slowly, and said he has to settle for a job as a butcher in a Mumbai suburb rather than look for better paid work in the city. The crowded trains into Mumbai compound his breathing problem, he said.

“There is no peace of mind,” Pevekar said, choking back tears. “I worry about living long enough and well enough to take care of my children. I want our lives back.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Adi Narayan in Mumbai at anarayan8@bloomberg.net; Andrew MacAskill in New Delhi at amacaskill@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jason Gale in Singapore at j.gale@bloomberg.net Peter Hirschberg in Hong Kong at phirschberg@bloomberg.net

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-07/-slow-poison-chokes-indian-workers-feeding-7-slum-roof-demand.html

Canadian MP who questions asbestos, loses job

On May 26, 2011 Conservative Member of Parliament, Mark Warawa, called for a re-examination of his party’s asbestos policy, saying “I think we need to take a serious look at the export of asbestos. It’s directly linked to cancer.” (Warawa may fight asbestos. Langley’s MP says he wants to look at potentially changing asbestos export rules.

http://www.langleyadvance.com/Warawa+fight+asbestos/4844446/story.html#ixzz1Nai0ueA3
Warawa has now been fired from his post as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Environment, a post he has held for several years.

Canadian Prime Minister is well known for his refusal to allow any dissenting opinion.

Kathleen Ruff

No secretary job for Warawa
Mark Warawa has lost the Parliamentary post he has held for several years.

By Matthew Claxton, Langley Advance May 26, 2011

Langley MP Mark Warawa is not among those Conservative MPs given posts as parliamentary secretaries this week.

On Wednesday, the Prime Minister's Office released the list of the secretaries, who can speak for their minister in the House of Commons when the minister is absent.

Warawa has held the post of secretary to the minister of the environment through several years, and several environment ministers.

Newly elected Alberta MP Michelle Rempel, from Calgary Centre-North, has taken on the position of parliamentary secretary to the minister of the environment.

Committee chair appointments have not yet been announced. Warawa could not be reached for comment.

Read more: http://www.langleyadvance.com/news/secretary+Warawa/4843232/story.html#ixzz1OWKZa7Wz

Will Canada’s asbestos industry succeed in relaunching itself?

Will Canada’s asbestos industry succeed in relaunching itself? The answer still hangs in the balance

By Kathleen Ruff

In the federal election in May, the Conservative Party targeted a handful of ridings across Canada where it thought it could win a seat away from other political parties and thus increase its chances of winning a majority government.

One of the selected ridings was the riding where the town of Asbestos is located. Prime Minister Harper himself went not once, but twice, to campaign in Asbestos whose population of around six thousand people is 0.02% of the Canadian population.

Harper’s strategy to win the riding was clear. Standing alongside Bernard Coulombe, president of Jeffrey Mine Inc., Harper promoted himself as the political leader most dedicated to the asbestos industry. Harper does not use the word “asbestos”, however. Instead, he always says “chrysotile”. He chooses not to disclose the fact that chrysotile asbestos represents 100% of the world asbestos trade and that 95% of all asbestos ever sold historically has been chrysotile asbestos.

“The only party that defends the chrysotile industry is our party, the Conservative party,” Harper told the voters of the inconveniently named town of Asbestos. “We believe the industry has a right to continue operating.”

“Chrysotile, specifically, is permitted internationally under conditions of safe and controlled use,” Harper stated.

The level of deception in this statement is extraordinary. Asbestos use is permitted in developing countries with no safety controls whatsoever, which is why we export our asbestos to developing countries.

Harper’s campaigning in Asbestos did not go as successfully as he hoped. He was confronted with a challenge from over twenty health, union and environmental organizations, which, on the day he was campaigning in Asbestos, released an open letter to the media, calling on Harper to stop supporting the deadly asbestos trade and to put people’s lives ahead of politics.

Harper failed to win the Asbestos riding and the Conservative candidate came in a distant third. The popular sitting Bloc Québécois MP, André Bellevance, won the riding again, but only just. The NDP candidate was just 700 votes behind, winning 32% of the vote as opposed to 33% by Bellevance.

In Québec as a whole, the NDP went from one MP to winning 58 of the 75 Québec seats.

The NDP was the first political party in the House of Commons to adopt a policy calling for an end to the mining and export of asbestos. And NDP MP, Nathan Cullen, in June 2009, introduced a private member’s Bill in the House of Commons to ban asbestos. This required courage on the part of the NDP and the pundits all said that they would, as a consequence, lose their one seat in Québec.

It is an encouraging and historic turn of events that Québec voters have massively voted for the one federal party that has taken a clear, strong position to end the asbestos trade.

On the provincial level, in Québec itself, the political landscape has undergone a dramatic change. The political party Québec Solidaire has only one elected member, Amir Khadir, but polls show that he is by far the most highly respected of any political leader in Quebec. Québec Solidaire have taken a clear position calling for the end of mining, use and export of asbestos and have presented a private member’s bill to that effect in the Quebec National Assembly.

Historically, the Parti Québécois (PQ) has always been a dedicated, unquestioning supporter of the asbestos industry. No more. The leader of the PQ, Pauline Marois, says that her party is extremely worried about the asbestos issue and the fact that all of Québec’s medical and public health authorities, including the government’s own health experts, have expressed their opposition to the Charest government’s policy of “increased safe use of chrysotile asbestos” and the plan to open a new asbestos mine.

The PQ are presently the Official Opposition in Québec, but are expected to become the next government. Marois has said it is time to re-examine Québec’s historic pro-asbestos policy. She has publicly opposed the decision by the Charest government to give a $58 million loan guarantee to the consortium of investors who want to purchase and open the Jeffrey underground mine and export asbestos to developing countries for the next quarter century.

Before any support is given to the Jeffrey mine project, Marois says that a parliamentary committee must first hold hearings and allow Québec’s public health experts to put forward the information as to why they oppose the mining, use and export of asbestos.

More than a year after the Québec government said it was considering financing the opening of the Jeffrey Mine, the project still hangs in the balance. In the face of the overwhelming opposition by Québec’s health leaders and in the face of questioning by the political party that will likely be the next government of Québec, the consortium of investors who saw a profit to be made in exporting asbestos from the Jeffrey underground mine has not yet succeeded in raising the $25 million required on its part.

The recent segment of The Daily Show, watched by over two million viewers, exposing the insanity and inhumanity of Coulombe’s Jeffrey mine project did nothing to help the consortium’s financial hopes. Coulombe says he’s going to have trouble raising the needed $25 million in private-sector financing and is shortly heading out to India to meet with possible investors.

If the project to open the Jeffrey underground mine does not succeed, then Québec’s asbestos industry will finally be dead. The last and only operating asbestos mine is in Thetford Mines and is about to run out of asbestos in the coming year. It has already started to lay off employees.

Thanks in large part to the courage and integrity of Québec’s public health leaders, the plan to revive Québec’s asbestos industry has been stalled for more than a year. It is encouraging that, in spite of the political support of Canada’s Prime Minister and the political support of Québec’s Premier, the asbestos lobby has still not succeeded in reviving the asbestos trade.

The final outcome is still unknown however.

Kathleen Ruff is the senior human rights adviser of the Rideau Institute and author of Exporting Harm: How Canada markets asbestos to the developing world.

Prevent Cancer Now http://preventcancernow.ca/will-canada%E2%80%99s-asbestos-industry-succeed-in-relaunching-itself-the-answer-still-hangs-in-the-balance

Indian Position at UN's Rotterdam Convention's COP5

To

Shri Nitish Kumar
Chief Minister
Government of Bihar
Patna

Subject-Indian Position at UN's Rotterdam Convention's COP5

Sir,

This is to draw your attention towards the upcomg UN's Rotterdam Convention Conference of the Parties (COP5) in Geneva June 20 – 24, 2011 the recommendation of the Convention’s scientific experts to list chrysotile asbestos (white asbestos) will be put forward once again. I am copying this message to world renowned environmental and occupational health experts and jurists for their advice.

I wish to submit that 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 Endosulfan, Chrysotile asbestos and some other chemicals will 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.”

I am attaching my letter to a Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) and Smt Sushma Swaraj, Leader of Opposition, Lok Sabha and former Union Health Minister in this regard for your perusal and consideration.

The UN's Rotterdam Convention provides a basic human right for developing countries – the right of “prior informed consent” regarding hazardous chemicals & pesticides. To date, under the influence of Quebec govt and Russian govt, Indian
govt has refused to support this basic human right.

I wish to draw your attention towards 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.

In order to meet its objective, COP5 of Rotterdam Convention will consider the inclusion in Annex III of chrysotile asbestos, Endosulfan, Alachlor and Aldicarb under agenda item 5 c during the meeting scheduled for June 20-24, 2011.

It is noteworthy that the inclusion in Annex III of Rotterdam Convention 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.

I wish to inform you that there has been 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.

I submit that 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 as Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Ministry, you 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 view of the above mentioned facts, I request you to recommend to CCEA to support listing of chrysotile asbestos in the PIC list of the Rotterdam Convention.

I will be happy to share more details in this regard.

Yours Sincerely
Gopal Krishna
Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI)
Member, Rotterdam Convention Alliance (ROCA)
ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA)
New Delhi
Mb: 09818089660, 07739308480
E-mail:krishna2777@gmail.com, krishna1764@rediffmail.com
Blog:banasbestosindia.blogspot.com
Web: www.toxicswatch.com

BANI Welcomes Siddiqui's Call for Ban on Asbestos, a hidden time bomb

Press Note

BANI Welcomes Siddiqui's Call for Ban on Asbestos, a hidden time bomb

Modi's Statement 'No health hazard from asbestos products' Condemned

BANI Awaits Inquiry Report by Industry Dept into demand for closure of the
proposed asbestos plant

New Delhi/Patna/28/5/2011: Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI) appreciates the demand of Bihar's Leader of Opposition, Abdul Bari Siddiqui seeking ban on asbestos products and plants on health grounds and it condemns the unscientific statement of Sushil Kumar Modi, Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister.

The villagers campaign against the three asbestos plants of Chennai based Ramco Industries Ltd. and Nibhi Industries Pvt. Ltd in Bihiya and Gidha, Kiolwar, Bhojpur seeks stoppage of these plants. Meanwhile, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, Ara has expressed support for the ongoing ban asbestos campaign in Bhojpur.

It must be noted that the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists conducted a nine-month investigation and found that a global network of lobby groups have spent nearly $100 million since the mid-1980s to preserve the international market for asbestos, a known carcinogen that’s taken millions of lives and is banned in 55 countries. These findings are easily available on the internet.

After a Citizens March in Patna led by left parties in February 2011 in support of the struggle by Khet Bachao Jeewan Bachao Jan Sangharsh Committee, the Chief Minister's Secretariat ordered an inquiry by Secretary, Department of Industry into the peoples’ demand for closure of the proposed asbestos plant at Muzaffarpur. BANI was part of the delegation that had submitted the memorandum of demands to the Chief Minister's Office. The report of this inquiry is still awaited.
Revealing fissures in the ruling coalition of Janta Dal (United) and Bhartiya Janta Party, while the Chief Minister has ordered an inquiry into the demand for closure of asbestos plant, the Deputy Chief Minister has alloted land for four asbestos plants.

The Janta Dal (United) led alliance seems to be pursuing the path of West Bengal Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee who awarded the ‘Environment Excellence Award’ to an asbestos company (UAL-Bengal) and met with electoral defeat.

As part of the same lobbying efforts, Bihar Industry Association, Chrysotile Asbestos Cement Products Manufacturers Association (CACPMA) and Asbestos Cement Products Manufacturers Association of India (ASCMA) have pressurized the Bihar Government to provide support for asbestos industry unmindful of the consequences of exposure from the killer fibers of asbestos. The asbestos industry is knowingly exposing unsuspecting workers, their families and consumers with impunity because of undue political patronage.

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 incestuous relationship with some ruling party politicians, the asbestos companies have escaped liability and have not been made accountable.

Referring to pro-asbestos campaign unleashed by the asbestos industry, Jukka Takala, Director, European Agency for Safety & Health at Work who was formerly with International Labour Organisation said,“It’s totally unethical. It’s almost criminal. Asbestos cannot be used safely. It is clearly a carcinogen. It kills people.”

Dr Barry Castleman, the author of "Asbestos: Medical and Legal Aspects" which is deemed the most authoritative text book on asbestos says, “Anybody who talks about safe and controlled asbestos use is either a liar or a fool”*. Dr Castleman is a fellow of the Italy based The Collegium Ramazzini is an independent, international academy founded in 1982 by Irving J. Selikoff, Cesare Maltoni and other eminent scientists.

It must be noted that Dr Irving Selikoff, Director, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York had been studying the effects of occupational asbestos since the 1950s. He described the lethal dust of the fibrous mineral as "a hidden time bomb". He received awards from the American Public Health Association, the New York Academy of Sciences, and the American Cancer Society. Even at the age of 75, he continued to research the effects of asbestos. He died on May 20, 1992. BANI salutes Dr Selikoff's contribution in the field of occupational and environmental health.

Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister must pay heed to the following points and withdraw his asbestos promotion policy that is denigrating Bihar's stature as state with scientific temper:

1. Union Environment Ministry's 19 page Vision Statement on Environment and Human Health (Para 4.3.1) on page 12 that 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. This finds resonance in Hon’ble Supreme Court’s order of 21st January, 2011.

2. In its order Hon’ble Court’s bench of Chief Justice of India Justice S.H. Kapadia, Justice K.S. Panicker Radhakrishnan and Justice Swatanter Kumar observed in para 15, “the Government has already presented the Bill in Rajya Sabha. The statement of objects and reasons of this Bill specifically notices that the white asbestos is highly carcinogenic and it has been so reported by the World Health Organisation. In India, it is imported without any restriction while even its domestic use is not preferred by the exporting countries.” Hon’ble Court further notes, “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. The Bill is yet to be passed but it is clearly demonstrated that the Government is required to take effective steps to prevent hazardous impact of use of asbestos.”

3. The WHO and ILO Resolutions have called for elimination of future use of asbestos. The relevant documents are availble on their website. The ILO Resolution is attached and WHO Factsheet on elimination of asbestos-related diseases is available here
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs343/en/index.html

4. The cancer causing nature of chrysotile asbestos (white asbestos) fibres has been acknowledged since 1977 by the International bodies, such as International Agency for Research on Cancer and the WHO. In these circumstances, we find that the panel remained well within the bounds in its discretion in finding that chrysotile cement products pose a risk to human life or health.

5. The Kerala State Human Rights Commission on 31st January, 2009 considered the problem created by asbestos and directed that the use of asbestos for roofing the school buildings and hospitals should be stopped and they should be replaced with country tiles. The Kerala State Human Rights Commission, while giving these directions, has considered the judgment of the Supreme Court.

6. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) too has passed an order in Case No:693/30/97-98 recommending that the asbestos sheets roofing be replaced with roofing made up of some other material that would not be harmful. The Annual Report of NHRC 2003-2004 refers to a Report entitled “Asbestos – Health and Environment – an in-depth Study “submitted by the Institute of Public Health Engineers, India. The study underlines that safe and controlled use of asbestos is not possible. The asbestos related disease are incurable and fatal. Human biology is same everywhere if the asbestos is deemed hazardous in the developed countries, it must be deemed so in Bhojpur, Bihar as well.

7. In such a backdrop, it is apt for the Bihar Government to take a
position on asbestos of all kinds including chrysotile asbestos and
recommend its phase out to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)

8. As Union Health Minister Sushma Swaraj informed the Parliament that
"long-term exposure to any type of asbestos can lead to the development of
asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma". How can Bihar's Health Minister, Ashwini Kumar Chaubey and Bihar's Environment Minister, Sushil Kumar Modi be ignorant about it? How can Dr C P Thakur, former Union Health Minister from Bihar maintain a studied silence on such a critical public health issue. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar must verify the truth about incurable cancer causing nature of any type of asbestos from Smt Sushma Swaraj.

It is widely acknowledged that Industry-funded science on chrysotile began
in earnest in the mid-1960s, when damning studies on asbestos cast unwanted scrutiny on Quebec’s then-thriving mines. Minutes of the Quebec Asbestos Mining Association’s November 1965 meeting suggest that the group saw the tobacco industry as a paradigm: It “was recalled that the tobacco industry launched its own (research) program and it now knows where it stands. Industry is always well advised to look after its own problems.”

The Canada based Chrysotile Institute and its network stretches from Patna, New Delhi to Mexico City to the city of Asbest in Russia’s Ural Mountains. Its message is that asbestos can be used safely under mythical “controlled” conditions. As a result, asbestos use is growing rapidly in countries such as India, prompting health experts to warn of future epidemics of lung cancer, asbestosis and mesothelioma, an aggressive malignancy that usually attacks the lining of the lungs.

Besides three asbestos plants in Bhojpur, some of the other upcoming plants in Bihar are:
• Andhra Pradesh based Hyderabad Industries Ltd at Kumarbagh Industrial
Area, West Champaran.
• Kolkata based Balmukund Cement & Roofings Ltd at Chainpur-Bishunpur,
Marwan, Muzaffarpur.
• Kolkata based UAL Industries Ltd at Goraul, Vaishali in the name of
UAL-Bihar.
• Rajasthan based Infrastructure Ltd at Pandaul Industrial Area, Madhubani.

The opposition parties have joined hands to oppose these asbestos plants. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA from Jagdishpur Dinesh Singh has also raised the demand of closure of asbestos plants in Bhojpur and other places in the state assembly.

*For Details*: Gopal Krishna, Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI), Mb:
09818089660, E-mail: krishna2777@gmail.com, banasbestosbhojpur@gmail.com,
Blog: banasbestosindia.blogspot.com,Web: www.toxicswatch.com

Health Impact of Bihar's Asbestos Promotion Policy

To

Dr. B.S. Rajput
Consultant
Joint Replacement and Stem Cell Transplant Surgeon
Breach Candy hospital,
Mumbai

Subject-Seeking Advice for Health Impact of Bihar's Asbestos Promotion Policy

Sir,

This is with reference to your article dated 17 May, 2011 in Dainik Jagran wherein you referred to incurable industrial lung disease (ILD) or lung fibrosis caused by atmospheric pollutants like asbestos of all kinds and how medical science in general and stem cell transplant research is grappling with it. This very newspaper has reported on 20th May, 2011 that asbestos plants of Bhojpur have reached production stage.

As you are aware about the diseases caused due to exposure to asbestos fibers, it is germane to request you to advise Bihar and central government to abandon its asbestos promotion policy. Union Budget 2011 also referred to diseases caused by asbestos despite this Bihar Government has allotted land for four asbestos plants. It is relevant to inform you that a New Delhi Declaration Seeking Elimination of all forms of Asbestos including Chrysotile from India was adopted after the conclusion of International Conference on "Emerging Trends in Preventing Occupational Respiratory Diseases and Cancers in Workplace" at Maulana Azad Medical College in March 2011 that expressed grave concern about asbestos related diseases like lung cancer in the national capital. (The Declaration is given below)

With this letter, I am seeking your support in persuading the Chief Minister of Bihar, a seemingly progressive politician to stop the three asbestos plants in Bhojpur, Bihar. Two of these plants have just been set up in Bihiya, Bhojpur, Bihar by Tamil Nadu based company, Ramco Industries Ltd. The third one has just been set up at Giddha, Koilwar Block, Bhojpur, Bihar by Tamil Nadu based Nibhi Industries Pvt. Ltd. In neighboring Sri Lanka an erudite committee has been appointed to look into health and environmental hazards of the use of asbestos. The committee was appointed considering the world trends to abandon the use of asbestos due to their negative impacts. In a communication to us Dr Charitha Herath, Chairman Central Environmental Authority (CEA), Sri Lanka informed, "We at the CEA are trying our best to study the matter of Asbestos and to take an appropriate action." Unmindful of incurable disease caused by asbestos fibers, Nibhi Industries Pvt. Ltd has proposed a plant in Sri Lanka too.

It is noteworthy that on 10th May, 2010, the project of Ramco Industries was discussed by the Experts Appraisal Committee (EAC), Industry of Union Environment Ministry. In the minutes of the EAC, there is explicit reference to "Health Management Plan for Mesothalimoa, Lung cancer and Asbestosis related problems in asbestos industries".

I wish to draw your attention towards a July 2010 editorial "A Repeat Call for the Banning of Asbestos" published in Environmental Health Perspectives, a monthly journal of peer-reviewed research and news published by the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services merits attention in this regard. The editorial is attached.

In a statement as Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Ministry, Sushma Swaraj 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.

More than 55 countries have banned the use of all forms of asbestos including chrysotile (white asbestos) and how the Kerala State Human Rights Commission considered the problem created by asbestos and directed that the use of asbestos for roofing the school buildings should be stopped and they should be replaced with country tiles. The recent Supreme Court order dated 21st January, 2011 takes cognizance of the Ban White Asbestos Bill in the Rajya Sabha.

I submit that asbestos dust and fibers 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, manufacturing asbestos based products to the ultimate consumer and their families. Clinical reports show that asbestosis, mesothelioma and lung cancer can show up even 25 to 40 years after exposure to asbestos.

Asbestos is a term used for a group of naturally occurring, fibrous minerals. The main types of asbestos commercially used are: Crocidolite (blue), Amosite (brown), Chrysotile (white). Asbestos is used extensively in building materials in both urban and rural India. Diseases caused by asbestos fibers are preventable but incurable. White Asbestos constitutes 100 % of the global market.

I am an applicant in the hazardous wastes/shipbreaking case in the Supreme Court where insecure environmental borders of our country is being dealt with. My application seeking decontamination of asbestos laden buildings in India is pending with the National Human Rights Commission. I am an environmental & occupational health researcher with avid interest in the matter of civil liberties. I have been an invitee to UN Committees, Parliamentary Committees, Supreme Court's Committees etc. I have worked with national, international environmental organisations and have been part of related Fact Finding Committees. I have been a research scholar at Centre for Social Medicine & Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. I am deeply concerned about the alarming increase in the rate of consumption of asbestos in our sub-continent.

In such a backdrop, Bihar Government's promotion of three white asbestos plants in Bhojpur is anti-environment, anti-people, anti-health and unscientific. Villagers of Koilwar and Bihiya region in Bhojpur are against these three lung cancer causing asbestos plants. Such plants are banned in almost thee entire developed world and World Health Organisation (WHO) has passed a resolution in 2005 seeking its elimination of its future use.

It is quite disturbing that media and political parties barring some left parties in Bihar are adopting an unscientific and anti-public health approach in dealing with incurable diseases caused by the killer fibers of asbestos.

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. The State government did take progressive steps in the matter of not following the path of Special Economic Zone (SEZ), GM food etc being pursued by the central government. 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. There is no doubt that asbestos will be banned, the question is about timing: Will the state government ban it before losing its prestige or will it do so after having lost it?

I wish to draw your attention towards 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 in Geneva wherein the fate of Endosulfan, 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, Endosulfan, Alachlor and Aldicarb 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.

I wish to inform you that there has been 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.

I submit that 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.

The statement of Smt Sushma Swaraj clearly implies that white asbestos or Chrysotile asbestos is a health hazard which is essentially what COP5 is to decide in Geneva. Union Ministry of Chemicals, Government of India must be urged to reverse its untenable position and support the listing of chrysotile asbestos in the PIC list of the Rotterdam Convention.

I can provide documentary evidence for each of the things I am mentioning below.

1. Union Environment Ministry's 19 page Vision Statement on Environment and Human Health (Para 4.3.1) on page 12 that 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. This finds resonance in Hon’ble Supreme Court’s order of 21st January, 2011.
2. In its order Hon’ble Court’s bench of Chief Justice of India Justice S.H. Kapadia, Justice K.S. Panicker Radhakrishnan and Justice Swatanter Kumar observed in para 15, “the Government has already presented the Bill in Rajya Sabha. The statement of objects and reasons of this Bill specifically notices that the white asbestos is highly carcinogenic and it has been so reported by the World Health Organisation. In India, it is imported without any restriction while even its domestic use is not preferred by the exporting countries.”
Hon’ble Court further notes, “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. The Bill is yet to be passed but it is clearly demonstrated that the Government is required to take effective steps to prevent hazardous impact of use of asbestos.”
3. The WHO and ILO Resolutions have called for elimination of future use of asbestos. The relevant documents are availble on their website. The ILO Resolution is attached and WHO Factsheet on elimination of asbestos-related diseases is available here
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs343/en/index.html
4. The cancer causing nature of chrysotile asbestos (white asbestos) fibres has been acknowledged since 1977 by the International bodies, such as International Agency for Research on Cancer and the WHO. In these circumstances, we find that the panel remained well within the bounds in its discretion in finding that chrysotile cement products pose a risk to human life or health.
5. The Kerala State Human Rights Commission on 31st January, 2009 considered the problem created by asbestos and directed that the use of asbestos for roofing the school buildings and hospitals should be stopped and they should be replaced with country tiles. The Kerala State Human Rights Commission, while giving these directions, has considered the judgment of the Supreme Court.
6. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) too has passed an order in Case No:693/30/97-98 recommending that the asbestos sheets roofing be replaced with roofing made up of some other material that would not be harmful. The Annual Report of NHRC 2003-2004 refers to a Report entitled “Asbestos – Health and Environment – an in-depth Study “submitted by the Institute of Public Health Engineers, India. The study underlines that safe and controlled use of asbestos is not possible. The asbestos related disease are incurable and fatal. Human biology is same everywhere if the asbestos is deemed hazardous in the developed countries, it must be deemed so in Bhojpur, Bihar as well.
7. In such a backdrop, is it not apt for the Bihar Government to take a position on asbestos of all kinds including chrysotile asbestos and recommend its phase out to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), to begin with?
8. As Union Health Minister Smt Sushma Swaraj informed the Parliament that "long-term exposure to any type of asbestos can lead to the development of asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma". How can Bihar's Health Minister, Shri Ashwini Kumar Chaubey and Bihar's Environment Minister, Shri Sushil Kumar Modi be ignorant about it? How can Dr C P Thakur, former Union Health Minister from Bihar maintain a studied silence on such a critical public health issue. Bihar Chief Minister Shri Nitish Kumar must verify the truth about incurable cancer causing nature of any type of asbestos from Smt Sushma Swaraj.
9. Bihar Government must recommend to the central government to support listing of chrysotile asbestos in the PIC list of UN’s
Rotterdam Convention

It is high time that the Chief of Bihar is persuaded to take cognisance of problem of asbestos related diseases and took necessary steps for its prevention and appropriate remedial steps are taken, it would be deemed a very welcome public health, progressive and historic intervention by the state for which the current regime will be remembered by by the posterity.

In view of the facts mentioned above, I wish to request you to initiate appropriate and immediate to steps to stop the asbestos
plants in Bhojpur and in other places like Madubani, West Champaran, Vaishali and Muzaffarpur where it is proposed as well to protect
present and future generations from the lethal fibers of asbestos.

On behalf of Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI), I wish to request you to intimate your colleagues in some 22 states about the "Research (which) has found that needle-like crystals permanently penetrate the lung tissue when dust-sized particles of asbestos are inhaled. The crystals can eventually cause scarring of the lungs, called asbestosis, and can cause cancer of the lining of the lung, called mesothelioma. Both diseases are incurable and terminal."

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 with impunity.

I will be happy to share more reference documents for your consideration and to recommend to central government and state
governments in general and Bihar government in particular steps to stop consumption of asbestos products.

warm regards
Gopal Krishna
Convener
Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI)
Asbestos Mukti Andolan, Bhojpur, Bihar
Mb: 09818089660, 07739308480
E-mail:krishna2777@gmail.com
Blog:banasbestosindia.blogspot.com
Web: www.toxicswatch.com

Cc

Prof (Dr) Arthur Frank, Professor, Chair: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Drexel University School of Public Health, US,
Dr. S.R. Kamat, former Chief, Department of Chest Medicine, K.E.M. Hospital, Mumbai.
Dr Aleck Farquhar, Managing Director, Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers, Canada,
Professor Elihu D Richter MD MPH, Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Medicine, Israel
Dr Yael Stein, MD, Unit of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Hebrew University, Israel
Dr Lyle Hargrove, Chairperson, Occupational Clinics for Ontario Workers, Canada
Prof (Dr) Qamar Rahman, Fellow, National Academy of Sciences, India & former Deputy Director, Industrial Toxicology Research Centre, India
Dr. T.K. Joshi, Fellow, Collegium Ramazzini, Italy
Dr Barry Castleman, Author, Asbestos: Medical and Legal Aspects
Prof. (Dr) Sanjay Chaturvedi, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India

New Delhi Declaration Seeking Elimination of all forms of Asbestos including Chrysotile from India

Date: 24 March, 2011

Recalling the Ban Asbestos Resolution of 2002, WHO Resolution of 2005 and
ILO Resolution of 2006 seeking elimination of future use of asbestos of all
forms, in the face of massive asbestos exposure underway in India;

Taking note of The White Asbestos (Ban on Use and Import) Bill, 2009
introduced in Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Indian Parliament) and the order
of the Kerala State Human Rights Commission banning the use of asbestos in
schools;

Considering the anti asbestos movement against 12 proposed asbestos plants
in Bihar in face of massive people’s resistance;

Outraged at the Union of India’s Budget 2011-12’s callous reference to
asbestos by including it under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana to cover
‘unorganized sector workers in hazardous mining and associated industries
like asbestos etc’ and on the other hand Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister’s
Budget is allocating land for 4 new asbestos plants;

Recognising the fact that enviro-occupational health infrastructure in India
is weak or non-existent in the face of workers and consumers who are sick
and dying from asbestos-caused cancer and other related diseases;

Endorsing The STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS of The White Asbestos (Ban on
Use and Import) Bill, 2009 introduced in the Indian Parliament that reads:
“The white asbestos is highly carcinogenic even the World Health
Organisation has reported that it causes cancer. It is a rare fibrous
material that is used to make rooftops (roofing material) and break (brake)
linings. More than fifty countries have already banned the use and import of
white asbestos. Even the countries that export it to India prefer not to use
it domestically. But in our country, it is imported without any restriction.
Canada and Russia are the biggest exporters of white asbestos. In 2007,
Canada exported almost Ninety five percent of the white asbestos it mined
and out of it forty-three percent was shipped to India. It is quite
surprising that our country is openly importing huge quantity of a product,
which causes cancer. This is despite the fact that safer and almost cheap
alternatives to asbestos are available in the country. Instead of importing
a hazardous material, it will be better if we spend some money in research
and development and use environment friendly product. In view of the above,
there is an urgent need for a total ban on the import and use of white
asbestos and promote the use of alternative material.”

Appreciating Supreme Court of India’s order of 21st January, 2011 that takes
cognizance of the above mentioned Bill and the resolutions of ILO and WHO
and seeks government to take immediate preventive steps;

Taking cognizance of the human rights violation involved in exposing people
to killer asbestos fibers and how even if few asbestos fibre reach the right
places, it causes irreversible damage leading to asbestosis, lung cancer or
mesothelioma;

Considering Government of India’s role in preventing the listing of
chrysotile asbestos as a hazardous product under the Rotterdam Convention,
an International Agreement that requires that importing countries be warned
of the risks associated with hazardous products is unbecoming of a nation of
India’s stature. It is unconscionable that the government knowingly allows
trades in a killer product that will cause death of hundreds of thousands of
people in India in general and in Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Bihar
and Rajasthan in particular and elsewhere in the world;

Reminding the Government of India that there is incontrovertible evidence
that creates a compelling logic for making India asbestos free;

Condemning the asbestos exporting countries liaison with the Indian asbestos
industry to which Government is turning a blind eye who have unleashed a
misinformation campaign about controlled use of asbestos products which is a
fantasy;

Disapproving Ministry of Environment & Forests Experts Appraisal Committee
on Industry for approving environmental clearance of asbestos plants;

Asserting the fact that so far some 55 countries have banned all forms of
asbestos, and are already using alternative materials;

Underlining that almost every international health agency of repute
including the World Health Organization, the International Labor
Organization, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Occupational
Safety and Health Administration, National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health, and the American Cancer Society agree there is no safe level of
asbestos exposure. Most recently, the International Agency for Research on
Cancer (IARC) reconfirmed that all commercial asbestos fibers - including
chrysotile, the most commercially used form of asbestos - cause lung cancer
and mesothelioma. In addition, IARC newly confirmed that there is sufficient
evidence that asbestos causes ovarian cancer and reconfirmed asbestos causes
laryngeal cancer;

We urge the Government to adequately compensate the victims of
asbestos-related diseases, create a database of asbestos exposed people and
victims as well besides providing legal and possible medical relief and
taking preventive measures. We call on the government to create a
mesothelioma registry and a building registry of those facilities which have
asbestos. We seek inclusion of environmental and occupational health study
in the medical education of all the 300 medical colleges in India

We recommend that the Government should start efforts to decontaminate
asbestos laden buildings including schools and hospitals

We express shock at the instance countries like Canada using tax-payers
money and Canadian embassies to actively promote the sale of asbestos around
the world;

We appeal to the Government of India to put a ban on export, import,
manufacturing, use and mining of all forms of asbestos including chrysotile
(white asbestos) in India.

We call upon the Government of India, State Governments in general and Bihar
Government in Particular besides Indian Ministry of Health, Ministry of
Environment, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Consumer
Affairs and Ministry of Mines to initiate steps for an immediate ban on use,
manufacture and trade of all forms of asbestos (including Chrysotile or
White Asbestos).

Endorsed by:

Prof (Dr) Arthur Frank, Professor, Chair: Department of Environmental and
Occupational Health, Drexel University School of Public Health, US, Email-
alf13@drexel.edu
Dr Aleck Farquhar, Managing Director, Occupational Health Clinics for
Ontario Workers, Canada, E-mail- afarquhar@ohcow.on.ca

Professor Elihu D Richter MD MPH, Hebrew University-Hadassah School of
Medicine, Israel, E-mail-elihudrichter@gmail.com
Dr Yael Stein, MD, Unit of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Hebrew
University, Israel, E-mail- stein444@gmail.com

Dr Lyle Hargrove, Chairperson, Occupational Clinics for Ontario Workers,
Canada, E-mail- lyle.hargrove@gmail.com
Prof (Dr) Qamar Rahman, Fellow, National Academy of Sciences, India & former
Deputy Director, Industrial Toxicology Research Centre, Lucknow E-mail-
qamar_15@sify.com
Dr. T.K. Joshi, Fellow, Collegium Ramazzini, Italy, E-mail-kantjoshi@gmail.com

Italian Researcher Writes to Bihar CM Against Bhojpur's Asbestos Plants

Asbestos Mukti Andolan, Bihar
Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI), New Delhi
E-mail: banasbestosbhojpur@gmail.com, krishna1764@gmail.com
Web: http://banasbestosbhojpur.blogspot.com, banasbestosindia.blogspot.com
Web Group: http://groups.google.com/group/banasbestosbihar?hl=en
Mb: 09818089660, 7739308480

Press Note

Italian Researcher Writes to Bihar CM Against Bhojpur's Asbestos Plants

Sushma Swaraj said, "long-term exposure to any type of asbestos can lead to the development of asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma"

How can Bihar's Health Minister, Ashwini Kumar Chaubey and Bihar's Environment Minister, Shri Sushil Kumar Modi be ignorant about it?

Nitish Kumar must verify the truth about incurable cancer causing nature of any type of asbestos from Sushma Swaraj, former Union Health Minister or Maneka Gandhi, former Union Environment Minister

Patna/New Delhi: Bihar Government's promotion of three white asbestos plants in Bhojpur is anti-environment, anti-people, anti-health and unscientific. Villagers of Koilwar and Bihiya region in Bhojpur are against these three lung cancer causing asbestos plants. Such plants are banned in over 55 countries and World Health Organisation (WHO) has passed a resolution in 2005 seeking its elimination of its future use. WHO document is attached.

Given below is a declaration signed by seven eminent scientists and jurists of the world with their emails seeking elimination of all kinds of asbestos including white asbestos that is being used in Bhojpur.

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). The letter is attached.

It is quite disturbing that media in Bihar is adopting an unscientific and anti-public health approach in dealing with incurable diseases caused by the killer fibers of asbestos. A joint letter sent to Chief Minister, Bihar is attached. He was in Bhojpur on 11th May, 2011. Pictures of asbestos plants in Bhojpur attached.

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. The State government did take progressive steps in the matter of not following the path of Special Economic Zone (SEZ), GM food etc being pursued by the central government. 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?

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.

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 that 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 vision statement is attached.

In such a backdrop, is it not apt for the Bihar Government to take a position on asbestos of all kinds including chrysotile and recommend its phase out to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), to begin with?

Several petitions (Parivaad Sankhya-454/3-2/2011, 948/17/3/2011) have been submitted the District Magistrate but there has been no response. Letters have also been submitted to Chief Minister, Bihar, Managing Director, BIADA, Principal Secretary, Environment, Bihar, Principal Secretary, Industry, Bihar and Principal Secretary, Health in March 2011 but so far there has been no action.
The villagers are demanding that Bhojpur plants be stopped in the same way as Muzaffarpur based plant has been stopped.
Human biology is same everywhere, how can same thing be deemed poisonous in one district and non-poisonous in another district.

It must be noted that the "Research has found that needle-like crystals permanently penetrate the lung tissue when dust-sized particles of asbestos are inhaled. The crystals can eventually cause scarring of the lungs, called asbestosis, and can cause cancer of the lining of the lung, called mesothelioma. Both diseases are incurable and terminal."

In Bhojpur's Bihiya, there is a proposal to set up a 120,000 MT/Annum capacity of Asbestos Cement Sheet Plant and 2 00000 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.

On 10th May, 2010, the project was discussed by the Experts Appraisal Committee (EAC), Industry. In the minutes of the EAC, there explicit reference to "Health Management Plan for Mesothalimoa, Lung cancer and Asbestosis related problems in asbestos industries". The plant being established by Tamil Nadu based Ramco Industries Ltd. Bihar'S State Investment Promotion Board (SIPB) cleared its establishment on 23rd November, 2009 with a total investment of Rs 60.20 crore.

In Bhojpur's Giddha village, Tamil Nadu based Nibhi Industries Pvt. Ltd is establishing the 100000 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.

In an 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 has observed in para 15, “the Government has already presented the Bill in Rajya Sabha. The statement of objects and reasons of this Bill specifically notices that the white asbestos is highly carcinogenic and it has been so reported by the World Health Organisation. In India, it is imported without any restriction while even its domestic use is not preferred by the exporting countries.” It is noteworthy that once a Bill is introduced in Rajya Sabha, it never lapses.
The Bench of Chief Justice of India notes, “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. The Bill is yet to be passed but it is clearly demonstrated that the Government is required to take effective steps to prevent hazardous impact of use of asbestos.”
In such a backdrop, in short, the Chief Minister ought to take steps to initiate the phase out of asbestos products and proposed factories that manufacture it.

The Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) reports of the proposed asbestos plants reveals that they will procure asbestos from Canada, a country that does not itself use it. Not only that it has decontaminated its legislative building of asbestos materials.

It seems that the asbestos plants in are coming up because of an incestous relationship between one ruling party in Bihar and some newspaper and news channels.

Asbestos Mukti Andolan, Bhojpur, Bihar and Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI) will attempt to expose this relationship but before undertaking such an effort it occurred to me that your creative intervention can set matters right .

The letter to Smt Sushma Swaraj with copies to Shri L K Advani and Shri Arun Jaitley and the concerned central ministers.
is given below.

For Details: Gopal Krishna, Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI), New Delhi, Mb: 09818089660, 07739308480
E-mail:krishna2777@gmail.com, krishna1764@rediffmail.com, Blog:banasbestosbhojpur, banasbestosindia.blogspot.com

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Gopal Krishna
Date: Thu, May 12, 2011 at 2:30 PM
Subject: Indian Position in Rotterdam Convention on Chrysotile (White Asbestos) & Bihar's Plants
To: sushmaswaraj@hotmail.com
Cc: advanilk@sansad.nic.in, murli@sansad.nic.in, cmbihar-bih@nic.in, dycmbihar@yahoo.com, ajaitley@sansad.nic.in, ajaitley@del5.vsnl.net.in, cp.thakur@sansad.nic.in, cpthakur1@rediffmail.com, thakurcp@gmail.com, jairam54@gmail.com, anandsharma@sansad.nic.in, pkm@sansad.nic.in, azadg@sansad.nic.in

To
Shrimati Sushma Swaraj
Leader of the Opposition
Lok Sabha
Parliament of India
Subject-Indian Position in Rotterdam Convention on Chrysotile (White Asbestos) & Bihar's Plants
Madam,

I wish to express great appreciation for your position against Endosulfan and for urging the Government of India to join the international consensus against it in the UN's Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants during a recent meeting in Geneva, Switzerland as required by National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). World over, your position has been deemed quite progressive.

It made me recollect your exemplary performance as a Union Health Minister and your considered opinion against asbestos including Chrysotile (White Asbestos). Kerala State Human Rights Commission has recommended ban on use of asbestos roofs for schools and hospitals and NHRC has termed exposing human beings to asbestos fibers as human rights violation.

I wish to draw your attention towards 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 in Geneva wherein the fate of Endosulfan, 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, Endosulfan, Alachlor and Aldicarb 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.

I wish to inform you that there has been 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.
I submit that 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 as Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Ministry, you 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.

I submit that like elsewhere, 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.

I submit that Ministry of Health and Ministry of Law should work in tandem to provide assistance to make asbestos victims and their families so that they or their children or parents can decide to pursue legal action against the companies responsible for making them incurably sick.

I submit that Ministry of Defence must also be alerted by both Ministry of Health and Ministry of Law against those industrial workers who served in the military to help, build and defend the country, and now they are now at risk of developing asbestos related diseases like mesothelioma.

I submit that there are many factors that influence a person’s life expectancy. Mesothelioma is typically diagnosed in the late stages because it displays no serious symptoms before then. When diagnosed in the late stages, the average life expectancy is 8 months.
I submit that there is currently no cure for the cancer caused by asbestos exposure. The Union Ministry of Health, Justice and Defence besides the State governments must identify and assist those who suffer from mesothelioma and other asbestos related diseases because they have the right to pursue financial compensation. Both the state and central government agencies must provide free legal consultation to present and potential victims and their families.

In wish to submit that in the way Kerala government took the lead in banning Endosulfan followed by Karnataka, Bihar government can launch a Asbestos Free Movement by stopping some 12 asbestos plants that proposed. I have visited most of the sites there is a public opinion against these hazardous plants.

I have visited BJP party office both in Patna and New Delhi and was happy to note that party office bearers were quite aware of the hazards of expsoure from asbestos fibers especially because the party offices are also laden with asbestos roofing material. They informed me that it is for the party leadership to decide on the fate of such hazardous building materials. May I suggest that to begin with in as an illustration for other political parties, BJP as a party ought to consider making its headquarters and state offices asbestos free. These efforts can commence with your specific instruction especially from Bihar given the fact that the State Party Chief is also a former Union Health Minister and a renowned doctor.

I seek your urgent intervention to stop the three asbestos plants in Bhojpur district in Bihar. These three asbestos plants are proposed by Tamil Nadu based companies Ramco Industries and Nibhi Industries. The former is setting up two plants and the latter is
setting up one plant. Besides giving several representations, letters and personal interactions with the officials and ministers there isn't any progress to stop it.

I wish to inform that on 11th May, 2011, Shri Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister of Bihar was in Bhojpur. At least two separate petitions against these asbestos plants in one district of Bhojpur have been given to him.

If these three asbestos plants are stopped, Bihar would become the first state in India to ban asbestos plant. The Bihar
Chief Minister appears to be quite conscious of the hazardous nature of the asbestos industry and want national ban on it. It would be set an exemplary precedent if the state takes the lead as it has done in several cases such as SEZ, reservation for women in Panchayats, GM Maize. There are news reports in Hindi newspapers even today in Bhojpur, Bihar seeking closure of these asbestos plants.

I submit that the asbestos plant in Muzaffarpur district has been stopped temporarily after police firing and lathi charge against the
protestors. We are demanding permanent stay. We marched on the streets of Patna, the state capital and as part of a delegation I gave submission for the Chief Minister, Bihar. Following which an inquiry is underway by Secretary, Industry Dept, Government of Bihar. It would be relevant that the scope of the inquiry is expanded to include the three asbestos plants of Bhojpur and to summon expert testimonies from WHO, ILO and those 55 countries that have banned asbestos including white asbestos.

I do comprehend that it is for the Union Commerce Ministry and Finance ministry to take a decision on ban this killer fiber at the central level but health being a state subject, the State Government does have the right to ban asbestos plants and products, the way Kerala and Karnataka has done in the case of Endosulfan .

I wish to inform you that a bitter struggle against proposed asbestos plants is underway in Bhojpur district, Bihar.
In such a backdrop, I submit that in an order dated January 21, 201, Hon’ble Supreme Court’s bench of Chief Justice of India Justice S.H. Kapadia, Justice K.S. Panicker Radhakrishnan and Justice Swatanter Kumar has observed in para 15, “the Government has already presented the Bill in Rajya Sabha. The statement of objects and reasons of this Bill specifically notices that the white asbestos is highly carcinogenic and it has been so reported by the World Health Organisation. In India, it is imported without
any restriction while even its domestic use is not preferred by the exporting countries.”

The Bench of Chief Justice of India notes, “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. The Bill is yet to be passed but it is clearly demonstrated that the Government is required to take effective steps to prevent hazardous impact of use of asbestos.”

I wish to inform you that the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a new factsheet on asbestos:http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs343/en/index.html It re-iterates that the most efficient way to eliminate asbestos-related diseases is to stop the use of all types of asbestos and specifically states that its strategy is particularly targeted at countries still using chrysotile asbestos. The factsheet notes that “more than 107 000 people die each year from asbestos-related lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis resulting from occupational exposure.”

I submit that the work of WHO and International Labour Organization (ILO) must be taken cognisance of by Bihar Government and Central Government in its efforts towards elimination of asbestos-related diseases “by recognizing that the most efficient way to eliminate asbestos-related diseases is to stop the use of all types of asbestos and by providing information about solutions for
replacing asbestos with safer substitutes and developing economic and technological mechanisms to stimulate its replacement.”

I wish to draw your attention towards the New Delhi Declaration Seeking Elimination of cancer causing all forms of asbestos including Chrysotile from India which was adopted and endorsed by eminent scientists and doctors on 24th March, 2011. This happened at a Round Table which was organized immediately after the conclusion of International Conference on "Emerging Trends in Preventing Occupational Respiratory Diseases and Cancers in Workplace" at Maulana Azad Medical College that expressed grave concern about asbestos related diseases like lung cancer in the national capital.

The Declaration is given below for your perusal and immediate consideration.

The delegates at the Round Table discussed the asbestos policy of Bihar. These delegates shared their views and gave their valuable hand written notes so that it can be used in a credible way while strongly recommending the need for immediate ban on asbestos to Government of India, State Governments and the relevant ministries.

I wish to submit that during a visit to New Delhi in March 2011, Dr Alec Farquhar, Managing Director, Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers, Canada said, “We now have around 500 asbestos cancer cases every year in Ontario from a population of 13 million. If you (India) continue on your current path, you will multiply our death count by 100 times. That would be 50, 000 Indian workers dying every year from asbestos. In Ontario, we learned that safe use of asbestos is impossible. I urge you from the bottom of my heart, please do not make the same mistake as we made in Canada. Stop using asbestos and use a safe alternative.”

I submit that Professor Elihu D Richter MD MPH, Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Medicine, Israel said, “All form of asbestos kill. India should bury asbestos, not people. Here is a case for examining whether those countries which export asbestos to India are committing a crime against humanity, because they are engaging in willful neglect. India should not repeat the mistakes of going back some 70 years which will kill tens of thousands of workers and their families.” Prof. Richter too was in New Delhi in March 2011.

It must be noted that “No matter what mis-information comes of Canada or the Indian asbestos industry about Chrysotile, there is no question that science has shown that Chrysotile causes asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma. This is the conclusion of World Health Organisation. The International Agency for Research on Cancer, and other organizations that have no biases except for protecting people’s health,” said Prof. Arthur L Frank, MD, PhD, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Drexel University School of Public Health, US. He has 40 years of experience in dealing with asbestos diseases and he was in India to make a presentation at an International Conference on Occupational Health.

I submit that Collegium Ramazzini, a Italy based independent, international academy founded in 1982 by Irving J. Selikoff, Cesare Maltoni and other eminent scientists has called for the elimination asbestos of all kinds.

Presenting her views, Prof (Dr) Qamar Rahman, fellow of National Academy of Sciences, Dean, Integral University, Lucknow & former Deputy Director, Industrial Toxicology Research Centre, Lucknow asserted, “This is high time that Government of India should ban the use of asbestos in India. It has been proven scientifically that asbestos based articles such as roof ceilings, storage tanks will release fibers. The asbestos fibers will be the cause of exposure to our coming generations.” This merits your immediate attention.
It may noted that the conference was organised by Centre for Occupational Health, New Delhi supported by Union Ministry of Labour & Employment, ESI, DGMS and DGFASL in collaboration with Drexel University, US at Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi from 22-24 March, 2011.

The conference was deeply concerned about asbestos related diseases and the alarming rise of asbestos in India.
In such a backdrop, in short, I request you to recommend steps on the following points:

· Urge Government of India to Support Listing of Chrysotile (White Asbestos) in the PIC List of Rotterdam Convention and do not grant environmental clearance to the proposed asbestos sheet plants
· Deny Consent to Establish to this hazardous asbestos factory units
· Create a Registry of Incurable Lung Cancers and Mesothelioma besides a registry of asbestos related diseases
· Start efforts to decontaminate asbestos laden buildings including schools and hospitals
· Create a building registry of those buildings and products which have asbestos.
· Include environmental and occupational health study in the medical education of all the medical colleges in the states and in the whole country
· Stop procurement of cancer causing asbestos based products in Bihar in particular and in the whole country in general
· Adequately compensate the victims of asbestos-related diseases, create a database of asbestos exposed people and victims as well besides providing legal and possible medical relief and taking preventive measures
I would be quite happy to share more details about the asbestos related incurable diseases.

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

Cc
Shri Lal Krishna Advani, Chairman, BJP Parliamentary Board
Dr Murali Manohar Joshi, Chairman, Public Accounts Committee, Parliament of India
Shri Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister, Government of Bihar
Shri Arun Jaitli, Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha, Parliament of India
Dr C P Thakur, Member, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Chemicals & Fertilizers
and Member, Parliamentary Consultative Committee for Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
Shri Sushil Kumar Modi, Deputy Chief Minister, Government of Bihar
Shri Jairam Ramesh, Union Environment & Forests Minister
Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Health Minister
Shri Anand Sharma, Union Commerce Minister
Shri Pranab Mukherjee, Union Finance Minister

New Delhi Declaration
Seeking Elimination of all forms of Asbestos including Chrysotile from India
Date: 24 March, 2011

Recalling the Ban Asbestos Resolution of 2002, WHO Resolution of 2005 and
ILO Resolution of 2006 seeking elimination of future use of asbestos of all
forms, in the face of massive asbestos exposure underway in India;
Taking note of The White Asbestos (Ban on Use and Import) Bill, 2009
introduced in Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Indian Parliament) and the order
of the Kerala State Human Rights Commission banning the use of asbestos in
schools;

Considering the anti asbestos movement against 12 proposed asbestos plants
in Bihar in face of massive people’s resistance;

Outraged at the Union of India’s Budget 2011-12’s callous reference to
asbestos by including it under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana to cover
‘unorganized sector workers in hazardous mining and associated industries
like asbestos etc’ and on the other hand Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister’s
Budget is allocating land for 4 new asbestos plants;

Recognising the fact that enviro-occupational health infrastructure in India
is weak or non-existent in the face of workers and consumers who are sick
and dying from asbestos-caused cancer and other related diseases;

Endorsing The STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS of The White Asbestos (Ban on
Use and Import) Bill, 2009 introduced in the Indian Parliament that reads:
“The white asbestos is highly carcinogenic even the World Health
Organisation has reported that it causes cancer. It is a rare fibrous
material that is used to make rooftops (roofing material) and break (brake)
linings. More than fifty countries have already banned the use and import of
white asbestos. Even the countries that export it to India prefer not to use
it domestically. But in our country, it is imported without any restriction.
Canada and Russia are the biggest exporters of white asbestos. In 2007,
Canada exported almost Ninety five percent of the white asbestos it mined
and out of it forty-three percent was shipped to India. It is quite
surprising that our country is openly importing huge quantity of a product,
which causes cancer. This is despite the fact that safer and almost cheap
alternatives to asbestos are available in the country. Instead of importing
a hazardous material, it will be better if we spend some money in research
and development and use environment friendly product. In view of the above,
there is an urgent need for a total ban on the import and use of white
asbestos and promote the use of alternative material.”

Appreciating Supreme Court of India’s order of 21st January, 2011 that takes
cognizance of the above mentioned Bill and the resolutions of ILO and WHO
and seeks government to take immediate preventive steps;

Taking cognizance of the human rights violation involved in exposing people
to killer asbestos fibers and how even if few asbestos fibre reach the right
places, it causes irreversible damage leading to asbestosis, lung cancer or
mesothelioma;

Considering Government of India’s role in preventing the listing of
chrysotile asbestos as a hazardous product under the Rotterdam Convention,
an International Agreement that requires that importing countries be warned
of the risks associated with hazardous products is unbecoming of a nation of
India’s stature. It is unconscionable that the government knowingly allows
trades in a killer product that will cause death of hundreds of thousands of
people in India in general and in Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Bihar
and Rajasthan in particular and elsewhere in the world;

Reminding the Government of India that there is incontrovertible evidence
that creates a compelling logic for making India asbestos free;
Condemning the asbestos exporting countries liaison with the Indian asbestos
industry to which Government is turning a blind eye who have unleashed a
misinformation campaign about controlled use of asbestos products which is a
fantasy;

Disapproving Ministry of Environment & Forests Experts Appraisal Committee
on Industry for approving environmental clearance of asbestos plants;
Asserting the fact that so far some 55 countries have banned all forms of
asbestos, and are already using alternative materials;

Underlining that almost every international health agency of repute
including the World Health Organization, the International Labor
Organization, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Occupational
Safety and Health Administration, National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health, and the American Cancer Society agree there is no safe level of
asbestos exposure. Most recently, the International Agency for Research on
Cancer (IARC) reconfirmed that all commercial asbestos fibers - including
chrysotile, the most commercially used form of asbestos - cause lung cancer
and mesothelioma. In addition, IARC newly confirmed that there is sufficient
evidence that asbestos causes ovarian cancer and reconfirmed asbestos causes
laryngeal cancer;

We urge the Government to adequately compensate the victims of
asbestos-related diseases, create a database of asbestos exposed people and
victims as well besides providing legal and possible medical relief and
taking preventive measures. We call on the government to create a
mesothelioma registry and a building registry of those facilities which have
asbestos. We seek inclusion of environmental and occupational health study
in the medical education of all the 300 medical colleges in India

We recommend that the Government should start efforts to decontaminate
asbestos laden buildings including schools and hospitals

We express shock at the instance countries like Canada using tax-payers
money and Canadian embassies to actively promote the sale of asbestos around
the world;

We appeal to the Government of India to put a ban on export, import,
manufacturing, use and mining of all forms of asbestos including chrysotile
(white asbestos) in India.

We call upon the Government of India, State Governments in general and Bihar
Government in Particular besides Indian Ministry of Health, Ministry of
Environment, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Consumer
Affairs and Ministry of Mines to initiate steps for an immediate ban on use,
manufacture and trade of all forms of asbestos (including Chrysotile or
White Asbestos).

Endorsed by:
Prof (Dr) Arthur Frank, Professor, Chair: Department of Environmental and
Occupational Health, Drexel University School of Public Health, US, Email-
alf13@drexel.edu
Dr Aleck Farquhar, Managing Director, Occupational Health Clinics for
Ontario Workers, Canada, E-mail- afarquhar@ohcow.on.ca
Professor Elihu D Richter MD MPH, Hebrew University-Hadassah School of
Medicine, Israel, E-mail-elihudrichter@gmail.com
Dr Yael Stein, MD, Unit of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Hebrew
University, Israel, E-mail- stein444@gmail.com
Dr Lyle Hargrove, Chairperson, Occupational Clinics for Ontario Workers,
Canada, E-mail- lyle.hargrove@gmail.com
Prof (Dr) Qamar Rahman, Fellow, National Academy of Sciences, India & former
Deputy Director, Industrial Toxicology Research Centre, Lucknow E-mail-
qamar_15@sify.com
Dr. T.K. Joshi, Fellow, Collegium Ramazzini, Italy, E-mail-kantjoshi@gmail.com