Two Dalit families freed from bonded labour

FREEDOM BECKONS: The rescued Dalit families at Karadiyan Naickanur in Erode district

       Two Dalit families employed as bonded labourers in a brick kiln at Karadiyan Naickanur in Erode district were rescued on Tuesday.

         On Monday, G. Kalaiselvan (31) of Nanjaimagathu Vazhkkai in Chidambaram taluk and K. Sivakumar (27) of Reddiar Mill area in Villupuram district escaped from the kiln and made a representation to Cuddalore Collector Rajendra Ratnoo stating that the owner was holding their wives and children hostage and had threatened to kill the women. Mr. Ratnoo alerted his Erode counterpart V.K. Shanmugam, who deputed officials to rescue the women and children.  Those freed from the clutches of the kiln owner are Mr. Kalaiselvan’s wife K. Indhumathi (26) and their children K. Jeeva (8), K. Swathi (6) and K. Deva (4), and Mr. Sivakumar’s wife S. Sivagami (25) and their children S. Soundarya (3) and 10-month-old S. Surya.

         Mr. Kalaiselvan in the petition stated that three Dalit families were employed at the kiln owned by B. Gurudevan. Two years ago they were engaged by Somu of Mayavaram to be employed in the kiln of Kittusamy. After serving there for a year they were shifted to the kiln of Rajendran. Later, Mr. Gurudevan paid Rs.85,000 to Rajendran to send the three families to work in his kiln.  They joined the new kiln on July 9. The very next day Mr. Gurudevan, his wife Vijayalakshmi and brother-in-law Venkat started abusing them and imposing unusual conditions on the families. M. Nizamudeen of the Consumer Federation-Tamil Nadu, R. Babu of the Social Awareness Society for Youths, T. Arul Selvan of the SIPCOT Social Environment Monitor, who took up their cause, thanked the Collectors for their speedy action.

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Cuddalore Nagarjuna Oil Corporation will start work on the Rs 12,000-crore expansion of its oil refinery in 2014.

Nagarjuna Oil Corporation will start work on the Rs 12,000-crore expansion of its oil refinery in 2014.

The expansion will take the annual refining capacity of the six-million-tonne refinery coming up in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, to 15 million tonnes. The expansion will be completed in 2016. The refinery project is a joint venture between the Hyderabad-based Nagarjuna Group and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Ltd, a State-run, industry promotion agency. In the first phase, the total investment will be over Rs 9,660 crore. The project is at an advanced stage of implementation and is considered the largest private sector investment in the State. The project will be the anchor unit for the Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region in Cuddalore and Nagapattinam, which are to be developed as a hub for attracting investments in the petrochemical sector. A revised proposal to develop the region has been sent to the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Government of India, in January 18, according to the policy note on industries tabled in the Assembly today. The plan is to bring in investments of over Rs 13,354 crore in infrastructure such as roads and utilities to support industrial development in this sector. This is expected to catalyse industrial investments of over Rs 92,160 crore over the next ten years and generate 7.5 lakh jobs.

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Cuddalore Nagarjuna Oil's refinery may be commissioned early next year

The Nagarjuna Oil Corporation's refinery at Cuddalore is likely to be commissioned by early 2013. This is a delay of almost six-nine months due to the damage caused by cyclone Thane, which hit Cuddalore last year.

The loss due to the cyclone was only around Rs 60 crore but it took away ‘crucial time' and delayed the plant's commissioning, said a senior company official who did not want to be identified. However, the company managed to rectify the damages and is back to regular planned construction activities, he said.The refinery, being built over 1,600 acres, located 200 km south of Chennai between Cuddalore and Chidambaram, is the largest private sector investment in Tamil Nadu at an estimated Rs 10,000 crore. The project was planned in July 2001 but work started in 2006 after getting all the clearances. But for Thane, the project would have commenced in March, the official said.

PACT WITH IOC

Meanwhile, Indian Oil Corporation will sell petroleum products of Nagarjuna Oil. An agreement to this effect was signed between the two companies at the refinery site today.The exact requirement of IOC will be known closer to the plant's commissioning. Nagarjuna Oil is also holding talks with Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum for such a distribution agreement, the official said.

IOC has over 1,750 retail outlets selling petrol, diesel and lubes in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.It has a 50 per cent market share in retail marketing of petrol and diesel in the two locations. A press release issued by Nagarjuna said that the tie-up could bridge the current deficit in supply of petrol, diesel and LPG in Tamil Nadu. There is a deficit of around 3 million tonne (mt), which is currently being met by imports from refineries on the west coast. The NOCL refinery is designed to produce 2.7 mt of diesel; 0.8 mt of petrol and 0.7 mt of LPG.NOCL is jointly promoted by the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation and Hyderabad-based Nagarjuna Group. The Tata Group and Trafigura of Europe are the other major shareholders in NOCL.

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Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board monitors pollution levels In Cuddalore SIPCOT

       For over four years I have been a regular visitor to the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board on Anna Salai for news. At a personal level, I have also been curious about finding a solution to Chennai's noise and ambient air pollution issues. But all that the TNPCB has been able to offer me is a table on the levels of air, water and noise pollution on a regular basis.

I have often asked them if they were aware of the blaring noise of horns or the increase in pollution levels caused by the city's slow-moving traffic. The responses varied from recalling how a few former bureaucrats had performed well in removing air horns to being under-staffed and therefore, overworked. While the city is grappling with increasing pollution levels, the monitoring agency is struggling to cope with a whole range of challenges.

        With just 670 employees, the board manages over 23,000 files of industries in various categories and also monitors urban pollution levels. In the Cuddalore SIPCOT industrial estate, there are 31 toxic chemical industries and there are just two people there. These people are in-charge of the entire district — what will they take care of, ask activists. At times, applications for consent to set up and operate industrial units await clearance for months together. Until two years ago there were nearly 2,000 industries around Chennai that operated without consent from the TNPCB.

          People who have been associated with the TNPCB for long say that the Board is not as effective as it used to be as it is bogged down by too much work. To make the system perform at optimum levels, there is a need for recruitment of people in the scientific cadre with a background in environment. Roles of officials are not clearly defined and this leads to staff doing what they can to monitor pollution levels, without much coordination. TNPCB needs to ensure accountability, if it is really serious about addressing the issue of increasing pollution levels in the city.

      Monitoring of air, water and noise pollution must be more effective and this might require more monitoring stations across the city. Achieving this should not be difficult, considering that funds are not a constraint. Clear long- and short-term goals must be set for every city and industrial region.This would help officials understand what they are looking at and take initiatives. TNPCB's laboratories need to be upgraded and must go in for National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories and ISO 14000 accreditation and keep improving their performance. Experts have also called for the setting up of an environment protection authority like in the United States. Such an agency would provide direction to the board. Its purpose would be to protect residents from risks to their health and the environment where they live in, learn and work. The scope of the Board should be expanded to more areas including indoor air pollution, ocean pollution, pesticides and drinking water. It's high time the government considered revamping TNPCB.

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Cuddalore petrochemicals hub for Cabinet approval in 2 weeks

        The Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers will present a proposal for setting up a Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region near Cuddalore in two weeks.

      Interacting with journalists on the sidelines of a conference on construction chemicals organised here by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Mr Jose Cyriac, Secretary, Department of Chemicals and petrochemicals, said that the Cuddalore PCPIR proposal has reached a stage where it could be presented to the Cabinet for approval. After the Cabinet approves it, Government of India would sanction the project, whereupon various agencies from the central and state governments would swing into action.

      The only operational PCPIR in India is in Gujarat. The Centre has given its sanction to PCPIRs in three other States – Haldia (West Bengal), Paradeep (Orissa) and Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh). Tamil Nadu's proposal is under consideration.Government of India does not provide any funds or incentives, except for meeting out viability gaps in projects. However, if a road or a railway line has to be built, it would allocate funds for the projects out of the budget.

      Spread over a 250 sq. km area around Cuddalore, the project will become a chemical and petrochemical hub. Officials of the Tamil Nadu government had previously told Business Line that the project envisaged total infrastructure spending of Rs 16,725 crore.  Mr Cyriac said that the Tamil Nadu Government has asked Centre to upgrade two local roads to national highways for access to the region. New Delhi has agreed to doing two of the three and the third is under consideration. It is learnt that the Cuddalore PCPIR has attracted investment enquiries, worth close to Rs 100,000 crore.

Govt funding needed  

      While the present PCPIR scheme envisages no funding by the central government, “this need to be corrected,” Mr Cyriac said. Where there are common facilities required, such as common effluent treatment plants, or preparation of master plan, the government should provide financial support, he said.

      Mr Cyriac also observed that a basic weakness of the scheme was the commitment of the anchor tenant. What if the tenant withdraws his project, is the question the government is trying to address. For the Cuddalore PCPIR, however, there is no “anchor tenant” issue – Nagarjuna Oil, which is putting up a 6 million-tonne refinery, will be the big investor. 

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கடலூர் மாவட்டத்தில் தொழிற்சாலை மாசுகளால் புற்றுநோயால் பாதிக்கப்படுவோர் எண்ணிக்கை 40 சதவீதம் அதிகம்

கடலூர்:

          

 

          தமிழகத்தின் மற்ற மாவட்டங்களுடன் ஒப்பிடும்போது, கடலூர் மாவட்டத்தில் புற்றுநோயால் பாதிக்கப்படுவோர் எண்ணிக்கை 40 சதவீதம் வரை அதிகமாக இருக்கிறது. 

 

           கடலூர் ரசாயனத் தொழிற்சாலைகள் வெளியேற்றும் கழிவுகளால், சுற்றுச்சூழல் பெரிதும் மாசுபடுவதே இதற்கு முக்கியக் காரணம் என்று, இந்திய மருத்துவச் சங்கம் அதிர்ச்சி தரும் தகவலை வெளியிட்டு உள்ளது.  கடலூர் சிப்காட் தொழிற்பேட்டையில் மிகப்பெரிய ரசாயனத் தொழிற்சாலைகள் 20-க்கும் மேல் உள்ளன.  மேற்கத்திய நாடுகளில் தடை செய்யப்பட்ட பல ரசாயனப் பொருள்கள், இங்கு உற்பத்தி செய்யப்படுகின்றன.  இத்தொழிற்சாலைகள் வெளியேற்றும் திட, திரவ, வாயுக் கழிவுகளால் கடலூர் மற்றும் 20-க்கும் மேற்பட்ட கிராமங்களின் சுற்றுச்சூழல் வெகுவாகப் பாதிக்கப்பட்டு வருகிறது. 

 

          தொழிற்சாலைகளில் இருந்து வெளியேற்றப்படும், காற்றில் கலக்கும், சுகாதாரக் கேட்டை விளைவிக்கும், மோசமான ரசாயனங்களால், கடலூரில் சுற்றுச்சூழல் மோசமாகி வருவதாக, சிப்காட் சுற்றுச்சூழல் கண்காணிப்பகம் ஆய்வு நடத்தி, பல ஆண்டுகளாக எச்சரித்து வருகிறது.  மத்திய அரசின் அங்கீகாரம் பெற்ற நிறுவனமான "நீரி' என்ற அமைப்பு 2007-ல் முறையான ஆய்வு நடத்தி, சிப்காட் பகுதியில் காற்றில் கலந்துள்ள மோசமான ரசாயனங்களால், புற்றுநோயை உருவாக்கும் காரணிகள் 2 ஆயிரம் மடங்கு அதிகரித்து இருப்பதாக, அறிக்கை வெளியிட்டது. 

 

             எனவே இது குறித்து அப்பகுதி மக்களிடையே முறையான மருத்துவ ஆய்வு மேற்கொள்ள வேண்டும் என்றும் அரசுக்கு பரிந்துரைத்தது.  ஆனால் தொழிற்சாலைகளோ, மத்திய, மாநில அரசுகளோ இப்பரிந்துரைகளைக் கண்டுகொள்ளவில்லை.  புற்றுநோய் அதிகரிக்கும் அபாயமா? அப்படியெல்லாம் ஒன்றுமில்லை என்று, பெயரளவில் மருத்துவ முகாம்களையும் நடத்தி வந்தன.  அனைவரின் முகத்திரைகளையும் கிழித்தெறிந்து, உண்மையை உலக்குக்கு எடுத்துரைக்கும் வண்ணம் அமைந்து இருந்தது, சனிக்கிழமை இந்திய மருத்துவச் சங்கம் அளித்த அதிர்ச்சித் தகவல்.  

 

            இந்திய மருத்துவச் சங்க மாநிலத் தலைவர் டாக்டர் பிரகாசம், "தானே' புயல் பாதித்த மக்களுக்கு நிவாரண உதவிகளை வழங்குவதற்காக சனிக்கிழமை கடலூர் வந்தார். 

 

 இந்நிகழ்ச்சியில் இந்திய மருத்துவச் சங்க கடலூர் செயலர் சந்திரலாதன் கூறியது: 

 

            "தமிழகத்தின் பிற மாவட்டங்களை ஒப்பிடும் வகையில் கடலூர் மாவட்டத்தில் புற்றுநோய் நோய் அதிகரிகத்து வருகிறது.  பிற மாவட்டங்களை விட கடலூரில் புற்றுநோயாளிகள் எண்ணிக்கை 40 சதவீதம் அதிகமாக உள்ளது. இதற்கு சுற்றுச்சூழலை வெகுவாக பாதிக்கும் சிப்காட் ரசாயனத் தொழிற்சாலைகள் வெளியிடும் வாயுக் கழிவுகளே முக்கிய காரணம்.  50 வயதுக்கு மேற்பட்டவர்களுக்குத்தான், புற்றுநோய் பாதிப்பு பெரும்பாலும் காணப்படும். ஆனால் கடலூரில் 25 வயதினரிடையே அதிகம் புற்றுநோய் காணப்படுகிறது. அறுவைச் சிகிச்சைக்காக, புற்றுநோயாளிகள், நாளொன்றுக்கு ஒருவர் வீதம், வருகிறார்கள். 

 

              புற்றுநோயால் 4 கட்டமாக பாதிப்பு ஏற்படுகிறது. அதில் பெரும்பாலான நோயாளிகள் 4-வது கட்டத்தில், குணமாக்க முடியாத நிலையில்தான் மருத்துவமனைகளுக்கு வருகிறார்கள்.  காரணம் மக்களிடையே விழிப்புணர்வு இல்லை. பெண்களுக்கு மார்பகப் புற்றுநோய் பற்றி விழிப்புணர்வு உள்ளது.  ரசாயனத் தொழிற்சாலைகளால், புற்றுநோயை உருவாக்கும் மாசுகள் அதிகம் இருப்பதை அரசுக்கு அவ்வப்போது தெரிவித்து வந்து இருக்கிறோம்.  இது குறித்து விரிவான ஆய்வை, இந்திய மருத்துவச் சங்கம் மேற்கொண்டு இருக்கிறது' என்றார் டாக்டர் சந்திரலாதன்.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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