S.O.S - e - Clarion Of Dalit - Weekly Newspaper On Web
Working For The Rights & Survival Of The Oppressed
Editor: NAGARAJ.M.R VOL.3 issue. 43 28 / 10 / 2009
Editorial : JUDICIAL ACCOUNTABILITY IN INDIA
- URGENT NEED OF THE HOUR
After 62 years of india's independence the lives of commoners is far
worse than under britishers. The benefits of independence has reached
only few , thus creating islands of few ultra rich people surrounded
by vast sea of utterly poor. The rich people in nexus with those in
power , are getting favourable laws enacted to suit their ends. Those
in power are shamelessly enjoying 5-star luxuries all at tax payer's
expense , while more then 50 million are starving to death.
The criminalization of politics , executive & judiciary is almost
complete. The corruption has spread it's tentacles far & wide , there
is corruption from womb to tomb ,from maternity hospital to grave
yard. The injustices meated out , the atrocities perpetrated by by
public servants are worse than britishers.
Ideally in a democracy, the legal recourse of grievance redressal /
justice , when a commoner suffers injustice he can appeal to
respective government official or police for justice , still if
doesn't get justice he can appeal to court of law , further the
aggrieved can get the appropriate law enacted through his M.P / M.L.A.
The sad part in India is no public servant is neither aware of the
value of our hard won independence or the working of democracy.
When all the legal recourses to justice fail to respond , to provide
justice to the aggrieved , when corrupt judges-police-politician-
public servants act as a criminal nexus & block justice delivery, the
commoner has only 2 options , either to suffer in silence or to take
law into his own hands & get justice on his own.
Take for instance Bombay riots case several VVIPs � cabinet
ministers , police were found to be guilty of torture , murders of
innocents by justice sri Krishna enquiry commission. The government is
sitting over enquiry commission report. The court is not taking suo-
motto action in public interests a result , the guilty ministers &
police who are fit cases for death sentences are roaming free &
commiting more crimes , anti-national activities.
In some cases , involving the rich &mighty ,higher police officials ,
the cover-up begins right from start ie FIR Registration. Police
conduct name sake enquiry , investigation, suppress evidences ,
witnesses , destroy some of them , the prosecution takes a favourable
stand putting up weak arguments. Naturally, the guilty official ,
minister is acquitted by court for lack of evidences. So, the guilty
who should have been rightfully put behind bars , hanged goes scot-
free , to commit more crimes , more anti-national activities.
In such cases , if the suffering public give the legal punishment to
the guilty , which should have been given by the court but failed. Are
not such acts of public, to uphold law & dignity , national security
right & patriotic ? if any body terms it as crime , that means guilty
VVIPs , police , public servants should be left unpunished allowing
them to commit more crimes , anti-national activities. Is that right
from national security angle ? is it equality before law & equitable
justice ?
READ FULL ARTICLE AT : http://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/accountability-of-in...
Do remember that our freedom fighters ,martyrs ,sri.kudiram
bose ,subhash Chandra bose , bhagath singh , veer savarkar others who
took violent path of independence struggle & killed inhuman british
officers, police & judges have contributed valuably ,immensely to our
freedom struggle. One of the main causes of origin of
naxalism ,separatist movements is the rampant corruption &
unaccountability of public servants in India.
In this back drop , in India anarchy is not far away. The days of
suffering public ,killing their tormentors corrupt police , corrupt
judges , corrupt tax officials ,etc is not far away. No police
security , no SPG cover can protect those corrupt , as police & SPG
personnel work for pay , perks and will be on the wrong side of law ï
¿½ protecting criminals. The suffering public fighting for their
survival , on the right side of natural justice , protecting the
nation.
If the authorities term this act as illegal , crime then are the acts
of corrupt public servants legal ? is the cover-up of such corrupt
acts by police , vigilance officials & some judges by mis quoting /
misinterpreting , misusing law is right , legal ? the GOI has
created , funded , supported , given training , arms & ammunition to
various terrorist outfits like LTTE , MUKTHI BAHINI ,MQM in foreign
countries , resulting in destruction , mass murders of innocents
there . In india itself in assam , Kashmir , the GOI has created
counter terrorist outfits to reduce the reach of terrorist groups. The
bihar , jharkhand , chattisgarh state governments have created armed
gangs SALWA JUDUM to counter naxal outfits , are all these acts of
government right , legal ? the days of dogs death for corrupt is
quite nearby. it is high time , to the corrupt to reform , repent
themselves.
In our own experience, e-voice didn't get justice from authorities in
many cases of injustices brought before it , most shameful fact even
supreme court of India failed to register PILs , even shameful supreme
court of India even failed to give information as per RTI Act ,
utterly shameful supreme court of India failed to protect the
fundamental rights of editor of e-voice & obstructed him from
performing his fundamental duties. Still, e-voice believes in peace ,
democratic practices. E-voice firmly believes that violence should not
be practiced by anybody � neither state nor public.
Hereby, e-voice urges the corrupt public servants to mend their
ways , to uphold law & dignity of democratic institutions.
Atrocities , violence , corruption breeds more violence , invites
dog's death. Peace ,truth , honesty is the harbinger of prosperous
democratic nation. Greetings to all my Indian brothers & sisters on
the occasion of 61st independence day celebrations, let us build a
true democratic India , free of corrupt public servants. JAI HIND.
VANDE MATARAM.
Your's sincerely,
Nagaraj.M.R.
END 25 YEARS OF INJUSTICE TO PEOPLE OF BHOPAL
Shortly before midnight on 2 December 1984, thousands of tonnes of
deadly chemicals leaked from Union Carbide's pesticide plant in
Bhopal, central India. Around half a million people were exposed.
Between 7,000 and 10,000 people died in the immediate aftermath and a
further 15,000 over the next 20 years.
Nearly 25 years later, the factory site has not been cleaned up. More
than 100,000 people continue to suffer from ongoing health problems.
Efforts to provide rehabilitation – both medical care and measures to
address the socio-economic effects of the leak – have fallen way short
of what is needed.
Many of those affected are still waiting for adequate compensation and
the full facts of the leak and its impact have never been properly
investigated. No one has ever been held to account for what happened
at Bhopal and efforts by survivors' organizations to use the Indian
and US court systems to see justice done and gain adequate redress
have so far been unsuccessful.
Bhopal is not just a human rights tragedy from the last century – it
is a human rights travesty today. The legacy of Bhopal persists
because the people of Bhopal have never been able to claim their
rights. Moreover, the negative impacts of the leak are affecting new
generations. Studies have shown how the exposure to the toxic gas
causes long-term effects, which can continue in children born in gas-
exposed families.
For 25 years the Indian government has failed the people of Bhopal.
Promises have been repeatedly broken and no adequate action has ever
been taken to address the impacts of the gas leak.
No company can be allowed to evade responsibility for the impacts of
its operations. Union Carbide must be held to account for what
happened at Bhopal. Dow Chemicals, which now owns Union Carbide, must
cooperate fully with the Indian government and the courts in India to
ensure justice is done and the site is fully cleaned up.
BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY 1984 -Bhopal, India
At the first instance the Government of India failed to ensure that
Union carbide India Limited (U.C.I.L) has installed proper safety
measures and fully implemented it in practice, at it's plant in
Bhopal. The Government of Madhyapradesh through it's labour
department, factory inspectorate & pollution control board failed to
enforce safety practices & environmental protection. In turn, the
U.C.I.L didn't install in full, the safety measures being followed by
it's parent company union carbide corporation (U.C.C) at it's
Various plants in the U.S.A. The U.C.I.L. didn't give community
training to residents of nearby localities, to cope up with
emergencies ie. Industrial accidents. U.C.I.L gave a go - by to safety
practices, as it treated Indian lives as cheap. The government of
Madhya pradesh instead of shifting slum dwellers around U.C.I.L, to
other safe place, gave them legal title deeds just months before the
tragedy in 1984.
Now, refer the following:-
1. After the accident at it's U.C.I.L. plant at Bhopal, India in 1984,
when the U.C.C. Chairman/C.E.O. came over to Bhopal from U.S.A to
visit the accident site, local police arrested him on the charges of
manslaughter. However, the Government of India got him released.
2. In 1985, Government of India enacted "Bhopal claims Act" took- away
the right of appeal of all the Gas tragedy victims & declared itself
as the sole representative of all victims. This said act itself is
violative of victim's fundamental & human rights. The
victims didn't choose Government of India as it's representative under
will, agreement, trust or pleasure.
3. The paradox of this "Bhopal claims Act" is that, Government of
India which is also a party to the crime, tragedy, itself is the
appellant. The appellant (Petitioner),defendant are Government of
India, Prosecution by Government of India & Judged by Government of
India.
4. In 1989, when an appeal about interim compensation to be paid by
the U.C.I.L to all the victims was being heard in the apex court, the
supreme court of India without giving a chance to the victims to make
their point, without consulting them, without making a proper
assessment of damages/losses, gave an arbitrary figure as verdict &
dropped all civil, criminal proceedings against U.C.C.&U.C.I.L
5. In the same year 1989, the Government of India without consulting
the victims of disaster, without making proper assessment of damages/
losses, negotiated a settlement with the U.C.C. and in turn gave full
legal immunity to U.C.C.& U.C.I.L from civil &
Criminal proceedings
6. Even the Government of India didn't present the case of victim's-
gas tragedy victims, properly before the U.S.courts, where the U.C.C
is based. All these premeditated acts only benefited the criminals-
U.C.C&UCIL. Are not the supreme court of India & Government of India,
here to safeguard Indians and to safeguard Justice?
After all these crimes, the Government of India failed to distribute
compensation in time to victims. It has failed even to provide safe
drinking water to the residents near the accident site, It has failed
to provide comprehensive medical care to the victims, till
date . It has even failed to get the accident site cleared off toxic
wastes either by the culprit management or by it self, that too after
20 years. The very presence of these toxic wastes since 20 years is
further contaminating, polluting the environment and taking toll of
more victims.
Particularly in the case of "Bhopal Gas Tragedy" the supreme court of
India & Government of India are deadlier criminals than U.C.I.L&U.C.C.
Just consider a case here, Just a few years back an U.S.based M.N.C
ENRON set-up a power project in Maharashtra, India through it's
subsidiary. When Maharashtra state Electricity Board failed to lift
power from Enron& pay them monthly guaranteed revenue, Enron
threatened to invoke, open the "Eschrew Clause" with the Government
of India & to approach international arbiter U.K. Government of India
has stood as conter-guarantee in this case. Finally the Government
paid, of course subsequently the parent ENRON collapsed due to other
reasons. If in this case if Government of India failed to pay-up as a
counter guarantee & refused to comply with the award of International
arbiter, definitely Government of U.S.A. would have stepped into the
scene to protect it's MNC. Hypothetically, In the same vein if Enron
has caused damages to Indians either through negligence of safe
practices or industrial accidents or bank frauds
amounting over and above it's Capital base & insurance cover, then it
would have been the duty of parent Enron & Government of U.S.A. to
step in & pay-up.
In the same way, the U.C.I.L has caused massive damages to Indians &
refusing to pay commensurate to damages. Dow chemicals which took-
over U.C.C. is also refusing to pay. DOW chemicals which is the new
owner of U.C.C. naturally inherits both profits, credits lent &
liabilities to pay of U.C.C. Still it is refusing to pay. Now it is
the turn of Government of U.S.A. to cough-up the sum.
Nowadays, it has become routine for central & State ministers to go-
on foreign jaunts, to globe -trott inviting F.D.I/ M.N.Cs to India.
They do sign numerous agreements, only favouring MNC. When tragedies
occur or when they cheat Indian banks/ investors, it is Indians who
suffer. The ministers & bureaucrats thinks themselves as wizards and
enters into agreements with MNCs, industrialists in a hush-hush
manner, with vast scope for possible corruption. Is it not the duty of
government to be transparent ?
An appeal to honourable supreme court of USA & HE Honourable president
of USA Mr.Obama
Your government protects all Americans, all American companies both
inside America & abroad. If an American tourist is murdered in a third
country , American investigators fly over to that country to conduct
investigation in total disregard to local laws. In the same way , if
the interests of an American company is threatened in a third country
American government goes to it's rescue.
However , when an American company butchers , causes mass man
slaughter in a third country , as an American company did in Bhopal
India , no action by American government. Still the said American
company has not removed , cleared the accident site of poisonous
debris at Bhopal India since decades and still causing mass man
slaughter , no action by American government why ?
Some US based companies are selling soft drinks , food products ,
medicines , drugs in third world countries , which are causing grave
health damages to the public. The quality standards of these products
are fit cases of rejections by US FDA. Some US companies are selling
drugs ( which are banned in the USA ) to third world countries , still
us companies are exporting such dangerous medicines , foods to third
countries . no action by US government , why ? is it because you think
that the lives of non Americans are cheaper than Americans ?
Hereby, I do request your kindself ,
1 . to initiate criminal prosecution against US based key management
personnel responsible for Bhopal gas tragedy .
2 . to make either the respective company management or US government
to pay compensation to victims of Bhopal gas tragedy on par with
American lives , as if the same tragedy happened in the USA itself.
3 . to order the management of the said company to clean up Bhopal off
poisonous debris , from the accident site at their own expense.
4 . To legally prosecute US exporters & US based companies selling
products ( which violates US FDA regulations or banned in the USA for
domestic consumption ) to third countries.
CALL ON US PRESIDENT & US CONGRESS
Dear President Obama and members of Congress,
I welcome President Obama's executive orders to close Guantanamo and
end the use of torture. Further, I welcome the appointment of a
Special Prosecutor to investigate a number of cases of detainee abuse
as a positive steps toward accountability. However, I am deeply
concerned that human rights violations—and impunity for human rights
violations--continue. This in spite of the fact that human rights
violations are immoral, illegal and—according to military and
intelligence experts—ineffective and counterproductive.
There is an alternative. I am writing to urge you to respect human
rights, follow the law and counter terror with justice:
- Ensure accountability for torture and abuse, as required by law. Set
up or support an independent commission of inquiry to investigate
torture and other human rights violations committed by the U.S.
government in the name of countering terrorism; ensure that all those
who broke the law are prosecuted; and ensure redress and remedy to
victims;
- Reject indefinite detention and unfair military commissions.
Guantanamo detainees must either be charged with a crime and fairly
tried in U.S. federal court, without recourse to the death penalty, or
be released, to countries where their human rights will be respected;
- Bring U.S. detentions at Bagram and other U.S. facilities in
Afghanistan and Iraq into compliance with international law and human
rights standards;
- Close all possible loopholes for torture and other ill-treatment,
and end any use of rendition and secret detention by or on behalf of
the U.S. authorities anywhere.
The U.S. government is required by law to respect human rights and to
ensure accountability for human rights violations. I call on you to
follow the law.
Your's Sincerely,
nagaraj.m.r.
Address the root causes that breed insurgency
PUCL Press statement on ongoing fight between state and Maoists
-- By Pushkar Raj General Secretary, PUCL
9 October 2009
PUCL strongly condemns the brutal killing of the police officer by the
alleged naxalites in Jharkhand. It is an unacceptable act of gravest
human rights violation by the people who claim to work for the down
trodden and poor. It is a long standing firm belief of PUCL that
violence in any form can never be a means to achieve any end howsoever
grand that might be. There is no place for such mindless violence in a
democratic state and society that India is.
PUCL watches with pain the fight between security forces and Maoists
in some parts of Chattisgarh. While it is a clear case of war against
one's own people by the state, Maoists too with adoption of violent
means of struggle has undermined the liberal and democratic spirit of
the Indian Constitution. While innocent civilian are losing lives, the
ongoing mindless fight between the two parties is a clear case of
impasse in which there is and will be no winner.
PUCL believes that the Indian state must address the root causes of
the social and economic conditions that breed insurgency like
situation where in a group of people is compelled to take arms against
the state. Clearly this kind of insurgency breeds because of violation
of basic human rights of the people. The mindless vested class centric
development and consequent displacement and impoverishment of tribals
must stop. The tribals must get adequate opportunities for means
livelihood, education and health. On the other hand the Maoist must
desist from using violent means of struggle that causes severe misery
and deaths of the tribals on whose name they unleash the violence in
turn harming the hapless innocent people. One must bear in mind that
in a democratic country the ends achieved through the violence means
are neither desirable nor lasting. The only way for a harmonious
solution of the present deadlock is negotiations between the two
parties. The Indian government must reverse its stand of crushing
Maoist through military means and must engage them in a dialogue.
Now that Indian state has captured one of the senior ideologue of the
insurgent groups, PUCL appeals to the government of India that
channels of negations between the two parties must be explored and an
honourable solution to the ongoing violent struggle be sought to the
mutual satisfaction of the both parties. Maoist must also come forward
and negotiate with the government for legitimate rights of the
downtrodden people for whom they supposedly are fighting.
Uranium Corporation of India Limited: Wasting Away Tribal Lands
by Moushumi Basu, Special to CorpWatch
October 7th, 2009
"I have had three miscarriages and lost five children within a week of
their births," says Hira Hansda, a miner's wife. "Even after 20 years
of marriage we have no children today." Now in her late forties, she
sits outside her mud hut in Jadugoda Township, site of one of the
oldest uranium mines in India.
The Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) operates that mine,
part of a cluster of four underground and one open cast mines and two
processing plants, in East Singbhum district in the Eastern Indian
state of Jharkhand. The deepest plunges almost one kilometer into the
earth.
Incorporated as a public sector enterprise under the Department of
Atomic Energy (DAE) in 1967, UCIL has sole responsibility for mining
and processing all of India's uranium. And since the strength of the
Jadugoda region's uraninite ore is extremely low, it takes many tons
of earth as well as complex metallurgical processes to yield even a
small amount of useable uranium ore—along with tons of radioactive
waste, disposed of in unlined tailing dams.
UCIL processes the ore into yellowcake and sends it to the Nuclear
Fuel Complex in Hyderabad, where it is officially designated for use
in nuclear reactors. But it is an open secret that some of the nuclear
material becomes the key ingredient in India's nuclear arsenal. (India
is one of only three states—along with Israel and Pakistan—that are
not signatories to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons. North Korea withdrew from the Treaty in 2003.)
Unhealthy Villages
Radiation and health experts across the world charge that toxic
materials and radioactivity released by the mining and processing
operations are causing widespread infertility, birth defects and
cancers. A 2008 health survey by the Indian chapter of International
Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), found that "primary
sterility was found to be more common in the people residing near
uranium mining operations area."
Jadugoda residents Kaderam Tudu and his wife, Munia, considered
themselves fortunate when their infant was born alive, until, "I found
that my baby son did not have his right ear and instead in its place
was a blob of flesh," says Tudu, a day worker in his late thirties.
Their son, Shyam Tudu, now eight, has a severe hearing impairment.
Even children who appear healthy are impacted. "The youths from our
villages have become victims of social ostracism," says Parvati
Manjhi, and cannot find spouses. "And a number of our girls have been
abandoned by their husbands, when they failed to give birth," Now
middle-aged, Parvati and her husband, Dhuwa Manjhi, who used to work
for UCIL, are childless.
Harrowing tales fill the region around the mines, and add irony to the
area's name, Jharkhand, which in the local tribal language means
"forest endowed with nature's bounties." If the lush land was the
indigenous population's boon for centuries, its rich mineral reserves
have become their bane. Six decades of industrialization has depleted
the forest cover, degraded the environment, displaced tribal peoples—
who along with Dalit ("untouchables") form an oppressed underclass—and
devastated a way of life deeply interwoven with nature.
Despite India's economic boom and proximity to one of the country's
richest mineral reserves, the villages in Jharkhand are now among the
poorest in the country, according to the Center For Science &
Environment's (New Delhi) 2008 report "Rich Lands Poor People."
Uranium Corporation of India Limited in Jharkhand
UCIL's underground mines in Jadugoda, Bhatin, Turamdhih, Narwapahar,
and its open cast mine at Banduhurang extract 1,000 tons per day (TPD)
of uranium ore. Two underground mines in the pipeline at Baghjata and
Mahuldih will boost that amount. The ore is processed at the Jadugoda
and Turamdih mills with a combined capacity of 5,000 TDP. The company
earned $64 million in 2007-08, and made a $3 million profit.
The 20-year lease for UCIL's mines was up in 2007, and a new
application is being processed. Under it, the company wants to add
6.37 hectares to tailing dam capacity and expand production, according
to UCIL Chairman and Managing Director Ramendra Gupta. This move
requires an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental
Management Plan (EMP) drawn up by the Central Institute of Mining &
Fuel Research (CIMFR), along with a public hearing.
Addressing the affected community at the May public hearing in
Jadugoda, the company represented the local plans as "a marginal
expansion." But the UCIL website promises "a quantum leap in UCIL's
activities" that includes plans to "deepen the existing mines, expand
its processing facilities," and "not only opening new mines, but also
the development of the community around its operations."
While the company has created local schools and provides jobs and
social services, villagers who attended the hearing argued that these
provisions do not compensate for the health effects and destruction of
their way of life.
"Why are we being made to pay such a heavy price, for so many
decades"? Asks Hira Hansda, speaking of her three miscarriages and
birth to five infants that quickly died. Her husband Sonaram worked at
the tailing dam as a casual employee between 1984-87, and like many
villagers, he links the deterioration in local health conditions to
the arrival of the uranium mines. The last three surveys conducted in
the area found increased radiation levels.
Heavy Security at UCIL's Public Hearing Keeps Villagers Out
The public hearing on UCIL's new application took place at the heavily
fortified camp of the Central India Security Force (CISF) within the
UCIL colony at Jadugoda. Conducted by the Jharkhand State Pollution
Control Board, the proceedings were marked by restrictions on personal
liberties under sections of a law applying to situations with the
potential to cause civil unrest.
Leaving little room for the public or protesters, the hall was packed
with hundreds of UCIL workers and other company beneficiaries who held
placards reading: "When compared to hunger, pollution is a small
issue," and "Save UCIL."
Those who had lost their lands and health to the mines were physically
barred from the tent. Outside the proceedings, protesters shouted: "Do
not destroy our land," "No uranium, no uranium waste, no weapons, care
for the future." Many indigenous villagers waved the banner of the
Jharkhandi Organization Against Radiation (JOAR), winner of the
Germany-based Nuclear Free Future Award for its long crusade against
the hazards of uranium mining in Jadugoda. The protesters denounced
the hearing as "a farce" and demanded that it be immediately stopped.
Villager and JOAR president, Ghanashyam Biruli, issued the demands:
no new uranium mines, bring the existing mine under international
safety guidelines, return unused tribal land, provide livelihood and
rehabilitation to displaced people, clean up the contamination,
commission an independent study of environmental contamination and
health effects, and monitor water bodies to ensure that the
radionuclides do not seep into the aquifer that is the lifeline of
more than 100,000 people. The activists also argued that since the
country can buy uranium on the international market, there is no
compelling need to expand UCIL's capacity.
The real compelling need, they asserted, was protecting health and the
environment. The 2008 health survey by the Indian chapter of
International Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)
provided clear evidence, finding that:
* Couples living near the mines were "1.58 times more vulnerable to
primary sterility" with 9.6 percent of couples in study villages
unable to conceive after three years of marriage, compared with 6.27
percent in a reference (control) group.
* Birth defects followed a similar pattern with 1.84 times higher
incidence: "[B]abies from mothers, who lived near uranium mining
operation area, suffered a significant increase in congenital
deformities," according to the report. While 4.49 percent of mothers
living in the study villages reported bearing children with congenital
deformities, only 2.49 percent of mothers in reference villages fell
under this category." The national rate for people with disabilities
(including congenital deformities) is 3 percent, according to official
government statistics.
* Deformed babies near the mining operations are almost 6 times more
likely to die, with 9.25 percent mothers in the study villages
reporting congenital deformities as the cause of death of their
children. In the reference village, mothers reported 1.70 percent of
babies died of deformities.
* Cancer deaths were also higher: 2.87 percent of households in study
villages attributed the cause of death to be cancer, compared to 1.89
percent in the reference village.
These factors contributed to a lowered life expectancy. In the study
villages 68.33 percent of the population died before reaching the
state's average life expectancy: 62 years old.
UCIL Denies Contamination
Despite such alarming reports, radiation data are not made public
because they fall under the purview of the Atomic Energy Act of 1962.
UCIL / DAE (Department of Atomic Energy) also cites security concerns
for refusing to release data on health of the workers. But Buddha
Weeps in Jadugoda, a 1999 award-winning film by Shri Prakash
documented that, despite a law mandating regular monitoring, in the
last five- to ten-year period few workers underwent blood and urine
tests to assess the impact of radiation.
Independent scientists have confirmed the danger. Professor Hiroaki
Koide, from the Research Reactor Institute, Kyoto University, Japan,
sampled soil and air in the surrounding villages and documented that
"The circumference of tailing ponds is impacted with uranium
radiation. The strength of the radiation is of 10 to 100 times high in
comparison to places without contamination. ...There are places where
uranium concentration is high in the road or the riverside, and it is
thought that tailings are used for construction material," including
on villagers' houses." Tailings are production waste material that,
according to critics are unsafely stored, dumped, and used for
landfills, roads and construction.
UCIL Technical Director D Acharya denied that the company was
responsible for radiological contamination. "UCIL's safety and
pollution control measures are at par with the international
standards, comparable at any point of time," he said. The company is
dealing with naturally occurring materials, he noted, the very low
grade ore extracted is a minimal environmental hazard, and the company
is not enriching the ore in Jadugoda.
But tacitly acknowledging the risks, UCIL head, Gupta, noted in the
2008 Annual Report that "External gamma radiation, Radon
concentration, suspended particulate matters, airborne long lived
Alpha activity and concentration of radio nuclides- uranium and Radium
in surface and ground water, in soil and food items etc are monitored
regularly."
Although he presented no evidence, UCIL Technical Director Acharya
said that allegations of health problems are canards spread by anti-
uranium lobbies, and that the physical fitness of the employees can be
gauged the UCIL football team's success in winning the DAE tournaments
for the past five years.
"From time to time we have also conducted structured health surveys
and examinations, by independent sources," said Acharya. "One was done
by the erstwhile Bihar Assembly, about ten years ago, but the findings
are absolutely normal." (The area was part of Bihar at the time.) "The
effects of radiation are being constantly monitored by independent
watchdogs, and there are health physics experts who are always with
us, for round-the clock-vigil of the situation. Hence, there is really
no cause of concern," he added.
That is not the experience of many villagers, who link serious health
problems to the mines. Like many of the women in the surrounding
areas, Hansda's pregnancies were a time of terror. "It fills within us
fear and apprehensions of the possible ordeal that may be in store.
Who knows what would be the fate of the baby," she said.
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