A
Representation From:
The Villagers
of Kadandale and Neighbouring Villages
C/o Subbaiah Shetty
Bandasale House
Kadandale Village and Post
Karkala Tk.
Dakshina Kannada
Tel:
08258-87239
18
September 1997
Submitted
to:
The Hon’ble
Expert Committee appointed by the Karnataka Government during their site visit
to enquire into the violations of M/s. Engelhard Highland Pvt. Ltd. on 18
September 1997
Honourable
Sirs,
We
appreciate the commitment shown by the Government of Karnataka to the protection
of environment and in safeguarding the interests of the local communities in
appointing yourselves on 29 August 1997 on the floor of the Karnataka State
Assembly to investigate into the actions of M/s Engelhard Highland Pvt. Ltd.
which, as we will set out hereunder, have in fundamental violation of the law
proceeded to construct an highly hazardous dyes and pigments manufacturing unit
in an ecologically sensitive region and agricultural area at the foothills of
the Western Ghats and on the banks of the Shambhavi River.
Sirs,
ever since we noticed in December 1996 that a factory was coming up in the
Kadandale village, we started raising
our concerns, and approached the various relevant agencies, particularly the
District Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada, requesting that an enquiry be
conducted into how an industry can suddenly come up in an area meant purely for
agriculture. Several months passed but
nothing was forthcoming, even as the suprestructure of the building for the
industry was nearing completion. We
tried to ascertain from the project developers whether they had obtained all
the requisite clearances prior to starting construction, what the nature of the
project was, and we always got evasive answers that created more confusion in
the minds of the people.
We
then started enquring with the local Kadandale Panchayat if the project had
been cleared by them, particularly given that their clearance was mandatory to
put up a building, only to realise that not only had the industry not obtained
the building clearance, but had also proceeded to construct the building on
lands that were still under the original owner, who is an agriculturist, and
the lands in question are agricultural lands.
Sirs,
it is our understanding that, as per law, agricultural lands can only be
transferred for an agricultural purpose and that to only to another
agriculturist. Never can an industry
come up on agricultural land till such time the due process is undergone, and
this involves official Gazette Notification, clearance from the various
agencies including the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Board, a process of public enquiry seeking the
opinion of the local public, etc. No
such process has preceded the construction of
the Engelhard industrial complex.
The
site in question measures approximately 50 acres and is situated on the banks
of the holy Shambavi River that serves as a major source of water to Kadandale
and twenty other villages, and helps recharge the ground water aquifers of the
area. The crystal clear and pure waters
are dammed by a small barrage near the site so that we utilise the waters for
irrigation and domestic purposes during the summer months. Also the project is coming up very much in
the midst of a thickly wooded region and adjacent to the Kadandale Gutta Kaadu
State Forest. Within 200 metres of the
project site are the Subramanya Swamy
High School, Dakshina Kannada Zilla Parishad Higher Elementary School, a Poor
Boys Hostel, and over 200 houses for low-income-group.
The
nature of the chemicals being manufactured by the industry and the processes
involved are very much a secret to this day, even though there are various laws
that mandate that the public must be kept in confidence in these aspects. We have tried our best to extract these
details by approaching the various relevant agencies such as the Karnataka
State Pollution Control Board, the Karnataka Department of Ecology, Environment
and Forests, and the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Board in our letters
to them dated 11 July 1997 (encl.), but no response was obtained. The Director of the Karnataka Town and
Country Planning Board did write eventually and assure us that a site visit
would be conducted, but the same has not happenned till date.
Subsequently,
we started knocking on the doors of all these offices in Bangalore, calling for
their attention to our concerns. Some
assurances were provided that the matter would be looked into. However, no clear action was taken to either
stay the project till our concerns were settled, or was an enquiry
conducted.
It
was during this painstaking search that we were shocked beyond reason to
realise that the project had in fact been cleared by the Karnataka State
Pollution Control Board on 28 February 1997, a full three months after the
project construction had begun.
We
have sufficiently applied our minds to the law pertaining to the role of the
Board, and we understand that no industry can come up till such time a NOC is
obtained from the Board conforming with the relevant provision of the Water and
Air Acts. And in no case shall the
Board clear an industry that has already violated the law by starting
construction, and certainly not if the project is coming up on agricultural
lands and in a region that is ecologically sensitive. If anything, the Board was expected to stop the project and
initiate stringent action against the violators, which obviously they have not
done. Therefore, in keeping with the
objectives of your mission, we beseech you to thoroughly enquire into the complicity
of the Board and its officials and take such necessary steps as are necessary
to ensure that such complicity and irresponsibility does not repeat in any
future.
On
perusal of the NOC granted by the Board, and other relevant documents
circulated by the project developers, we have come to understand that the
Engelhard project plans to manufacture dyes and pigments which are used in the
manufacture of currency notes. It has
been made known since, that the project is entirely export oriented and that
the produce is to be exported to the USA for use in the dollar mints. We have also understood that the produce is
in such little quantities, a few truck loads at the most, that this obviously
is not an industry that needs to come up in such a remote village as Kadandale,
particularly when there are so many established industrial estates across the
state.
Why
then are the project developers establishing the industry in Kadandale? We have no clear idea. However, we are aware that there is a
process of dumping highly hazardous industrial processes in the developing
world by developed countries, and could this be one such instance? This is a troubling question in our minds,
with serious political repercussions, and we can only bring this possibility to
your kind attention for further enquiry and appropriate action.
This
question baffles us even more when we realise that the project has not
obtained the environmental clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and
Forests, as per the Environment Impact Assessment Notification of 1994 and the
Environment Protection Act 1986.
This was brought to the notice of the Ministry and the Deputy Director
of the Southern Cell has since held an enquiry by making a site visit on 15
September 1997. The results of his
enquiry are thus awaited.
Sirs,
we live in a region in tranquility and in total harmony with nature. It is our intention to pursue such lawful
activites that will lead to the prosperity of one and all and most certainly in
tune with Mother Nature. It is not out
intention to see the destruction of the sources of livelihood of the villagers
of Kadandale and other villages who depend on the holy Shambavi by the toxic
effluents that are discharged by the Engelhard project. Nor is it our wish to see the vulnerable
sections of society, paticularly the children and the aged, suffer from the
noxious gases and waste products that are spewed out by this industry into our
neighbourhood for decades on end and impacting on generations to come.
We
are law abiding and peaceful citizens who have approached our elected
representatives in our times of difficulty and they in their generosity have
extended us the privelege of making to yourselves these submissions so that the
real picture emerges. It is not for us
to determine what action needs to be taken against the industry for violating
the law and for those officials who have complied beyond their jurisdiction in
attempting to legalise an illegal act.
However, we believe that it is reasonable for us to expect that the
project should not have come up here at all, and now that the structure has
come up, the same should be demolished, the region restored to its original
state at the cost of the developer and such other action taken that will win
the confidence of the local communities that this is a country that upholds the
law and punishes the guilty.
This
submission we make to you, Honourbale Sirs, not only in the interest of the
present generation, but those that are yet to come, so they shall cherish the
freedom of breathing fresh air and drinking pure water and eating food grown on
healthy soil. For they shall remember
the good grace by which the Government of Karnataka recognised the efforts of
the villagers of Kadandale in protecting their environment, a constitutional
obligation of every citizen.
Thanking
you,
Yours sincerely