01.14.20004 -- Why Mumbai? Why Not?
01.16.20004 -- Media is the Message
01.18.20004 -- Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola
01.19.20004 -- INTERVIEW: Walden Bello
01.21.20004 -- Our Poisoned Future
01.22.20004 -- The Other NRIs Come to India
01.23.20004 -- Smoking the Peace Pipe
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WSF: Dateline Mumbai, January 21, 2004
Our Poisoned Future (By Naeem Mohaiemen -- nmohaiemen@mac.com)
After ten days in Mumbai, I've developed a nasty set of ailments. A combination of itchy, hoarse throat, sinus pain and blocked nose has knocked me flat. Meeting with a group of WSF delegates for dinner, I described my symptoms. I quickly found that several of the other delegates had similar problems. "You've got dust sickness, that's what we all call it." explained Trishala, a delegate from America. Sure enough, there were quite a few of us who had started developing bronchitis-like symptoms from Mumbai's foul air. The location of the WSF event, two hours away from the center of Mumbai, aggravated the situation. From dawn to dusk, we were enveloped in a haze of smoke, dust, diesel fume and germs as we shuttled from location to location via auto ricksha, bus and train. The only person in our group who seemed immune was Zafar Sobhan, the Daily Star's correspondent from Bangladesh. Used to Dhaka air, Zafar seemed to have developed a high level of immunity-- his system was not going into shock from the air pollution.
The horrendous levels of pollution in Mumbai are directly related to its intense and rapid industrialization. In an earlier column, I asked whether Mumbai was an appropriate or welcoming location for the WSF. While the city may not be a good showcase for alternate models of development and trade, it is certainly a good place to highlight some of the deadly side-effects of unregulated, excessively rapid industrialization. One such case is that of Coca-Cola's depletion of natural ground water, turning surrounding villages into virtual deserts. But Coca-Cola is only one such case, and truthfully, has received more attention because it is an American corporation. While the "Campaign To Hold Coke Accountable" is focused on environmental destruction, many campaigners are also using it to play out larger debates over US business power and TNCs rapid expansion into the developing world. But anyone who has studied the issues in depth knows that local Indian companies can be just as big environmental offenders.
One such local disaster involves Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL), which is located next to Gavanpada village in Chembur. In fact, like many remote villages in India, Gavanpada has been "blessed" with the nearby presence of four factories: HPCL, BPCL, IOCL and Tata Power. Smoke and gasoline fumes have permanently poisoned the air. On a recent night, a nighttime cricket game was suddenly interrupted by mysterious white powder showering down from the sky. The game was quickly abandoned and villagers fled to the safety of their house, but it was already too late. The next morning, the village was coated with a white dust, which was revealed to be silica dust accidentally discharged from the HPCL factory. Within twenty four hours, residents were experiencing intense burning sensations in their eyes, scarring on their faces and respiratory problems. As with laboratory animals, the village's cats and dogs were early victims. Within the week, eight dogs and several cats had died and one pregnant dog miscarried her entire litter. Children were also brought in with intense respiratory problems.
Investigations revealed that the silica dust was used by HPCL to break down hydrocarbons. It is not soluble in water, so even rain cannot easily wash it away. The dust escaped when there was an instrument malfunction during the daily start-up of the factory. A huge amount of silica, or "catalyst powder" spewed into the open air during the accident. According to residents, this was the fourth time it had happened in one month. Angry villagers staged a 1,000 strong march to the refinery gates recently, but no representative came out to meet them. HPCL is a government-run enterprise, and one of the nation's largest corporations. In 2003, it earned Rs 1,537 Crore in profit. But so far, they have shown no interest in financially compensating the affected villagers. Speaking to Newsline, HPCL's chairman Mahesh Lal said, "I don't think it (the white powder) is harmful at all." This optimistic, non-scientific interpretation was contradicted by Gavanpada local leader Vinayak Mahatre: "Someday, we will all die."
HPCL is emblematic of other local industrial giants, government-owned and private, that are carrying out environmentally destructive policies without any checks and balances. In fact, government-owned companies are sometimes even less accountable than private firms. This brings up a dilemma for the activists of WSF. There is a lot of attention being paid, quite naturally, to the actions of TNCs like Coke. This attention is justified and hopefully the campaigns will bring positive reforms of the TNC business practises. Paradoxically however, TNCs are sometimes more vulnerable to pressures from environmental activists-- because their headquarters are in America or Europe and negative media attention from a disaster in far-away India could wreak havoc on the company's stock prices All this bring up an interesting question for Globalization activists (note that I have deliberately not used the misleading "anti" descriptor). If we care about businesses being run on humane, people-centric, and environmentally sound principles-- we may find the foreign TNC to sometimes be more responsive to environmental complaints (of course, there are cases like Union Carbide-Bhopal to contradict this argument). Therefore, should we welcome foreign TNCs to South Asia in the hope that it will raise national environmental standards? This argument is anathema to those who are pushing for local control over all industries. A thorny dilemma with no clear answer in sight-- but one which the WSF delegates have to grapple with if they want nuanced solutions that fit a complex real world.
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