Eloor: The Toxic hotspot

-

A POISONED RIVER MEANS A DYING POPULATION


The Periyar flows around the 14.21 sq. km island of Eloor, which includes the Eloor-Edayar industries belt, most of which was developed between 1950 and 1970 as the largest industrial belt in Kerala. Right now, the region has the highest agglomeration of chemical industries, bone meal factories, and tanneries in the state.

For the residents of Eloor, daily life has become difficult owing to pungent air, contaminated water, and dead fish floating in the river. Many have migrated to safe places and those who stuck to their soil remain victims of environmental pollution. They have lost hope that things would change. Though they still plead with officials to improve their living conditions, the unholy nexus of industrial mafia and those in power make sure that their privileges remain the same. There is no one to take action. Trade union leaders and government officials get regular paycheques from these companies. In the end, the common man is forced to remain a mute spectators.


With the onset of the monsoon, the number of effluents discharged into the river multiplies, as the river has enough water to carry the sludge into the sea during monsoon, companies have started pumping out the effluents at night. Harmful waste is also discharged when the Irrigation Department opens dam shutters. The increased flow of water through the river will help carry the waste through the Eloor regulator-cum-bridge.

Many residents are forced to fight several ailments and suffer silently as industrial units continue to pollute the environment. Whoever fought against injustice will have a story of severe diseases. Apart from cancer patients, newborns are diagnosed with asthma many local residences suffer from other illnesses bronchitis, allergic dermatitis, and stomach ulcers. As the groundwater turned yellowish and rainwater harvest became impossible with air pollution, the residence are forced to depend on the municipality’s water supply.

Images from the bank of the Periyar river

Pollution in Eloor was not a recent issue but started long back ago. The two events that first revealed the conditions were during 1971 when after a strong monsoon, the local people saw thousands of fish lying dead in the banks of Periyar. And the other was in 1990, when bizarrely, a stream-Kuhikandam Thode, caught fire. By 2005 there were more than 300 factories on this patch of land, producing some of the most hazardous products including pesticides, petrochemical products rare- earth goods, fertilizers, leather products, and inks. Even the Endosuplan Kerala's largest killer chemical was manufactured in Eloor. After almost a decade of struggle in 2009, the comprehensive assessment of the industrial clusters by the Central Pollution Control Board put the first public mark of the pollution in the area. The report pointed them where 83 Red category and 17 Orange category industries in the Cochin area are responsible for pollutions. The State Pollution Control Board kept a blind eye on the issue. The people who live in Eloor take these pollutions as their destiny.

The Greenpeace study was conducted in collaboration with medical teams from Occupational Health and Safety Centre, Mumbai and NIMHANS, and St John's Medical College, Bangalore. They collected samples of water and sediments from an adjacent creek and soil of Eloor. Its detailed analysis found that the water at Eloor contained 100 organic compounds that included DDT and its metabolites, endosulfan, and several isomers like hexachlorocyclohexane, a persistent pesticide.

Terrifying findings

  • Children face a 2.63 times higher risk of malformation due to congenital and chromosomal aberrations
  • The chances of death due to an accident are 2.7 times higher
  • Chances that children may die due to birth defects have increased 3.8 times
  • Death due to bronchitis is up by 3.4 times
  • Death due to asthma is up by 2.2 times

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

COCHIN: At Present

-
Image
  Urbanization: Current Scenario in Cochin Cochin is the commercial capital of Kerala.   It is the most promising growth-oriented development region in the state of Kerala. A collection of small islands, a large peninsula, and the mainland collectively made up the modern city of Kochi. The city of Kochi is located along the central coast of Kerala in Ernakulam district. Developments in the city and the surrounding area have taken a fast stride in the last two decades. The Information Technology Institutions at Kakkanad, the International Airport at Nedumbassery, the new bridge linking Vypeen islands to the mainland, and the high impact residential and commercial developments in the city and the surrounding areas have caused direct and indirect development impacts in many sectors. The newly proposed metro project, the high-speed rail corridor, smart city project, and the Vallarpadam container terminal project will enhance the growth of Kochi. Fort Kochi, located on a penin...
Read more

Kochi: Air Quality

-
Image
  Cochin city: Prone to Air Pollution   Kochi City is a fast-growing industrial region where mounting civilization and urbanization have been affecting abruptly in diminishing the air quality of these atmospheric environments. Hence a systematic investigation has been undertaken to carry out the quality assessment emphasizing six transition sectors which are prominent sites with distinct topographical features covering the entire estuarine, riverine, and coastal regions of the Cochin Aquatic System.  The study recorded that one of the riverine sites (R2) is exponentially showing enrichment in SO2 concentration which can be speculated for severe industrial emissions and this site can be described as the “Hot Spot Realm”. The enrichment of NO2 portrays the pollution source through vehicular emissions. Regarding the temporal trend, vagueness exists throughout the analysis more than the spatial allocation trend. It is reflected from the analysis that both climatology and...
Read more

Kochi: Iraveli Slums

-
Image
Iraveli Slums Iraveli, one of the wards in West Kochi, has a number of slums. The condition of the four main slums Thashkent, Panan, Thuruthy and Konchery remain pathetic. Most of the residents of the area are labourers who work in the fishing sector. According to M S Girish, councillor of Iraveli, much work has been carried out in these areas. “A number of public toilets have been built and many have been renovated.  Development activities have also been carried out utilising the People’s Planning fund. In all, 105 houses were built under the BSUP scheme. Another 16 houses were built using the JNNURM fund. The lighting problems in the area and the road renovation works were solved to an extent using the division fund.” He says that 63 families were rehabilitated under the multi-housing scheme using various funds. These families were rehabilitated in the Iraveli from the Kalvathy slum area. Councillors from both areas claim to have worked for this scheme. “An Area...
Read more