Come Chemical Disaster!

Come Chemical Disaster!

Indian Holocaust My Father`s Life and Time - One hundred SIXTY

Palash Biswas



Committee identifies 7 regions for setting up petrochem hubs in India (25-8-2006)


The Task Force on Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrocemical Investment region has submitted a draft policy on PCPIR and the same would be placed before the Cabinet soon. The draft encompasses the identification of 7 regions in India for setting up of petroleum and petrochemical hubs of 250 sq kms to tap the huge export market. In this area along with PCPIR, related services and infrastructure will be made available. While 40 per cent of the area will be utilised for processing units the rest will be for social and allied infrastructure.
A refinery or a petrochemical feedstock unit will be its 'Anchor Tenant'. The draft report has also suggested nil import duty on crude oil to facilitate setting up of petrochemical hubs. Dahej in Gujarat, Vizag in Andhra Pradesh, Kochi in Kerala, Haldia in West Bengal, Mangalore in Karnataka, Paradeep in Orissa and Panipat in Haryana have been identified forfor setting up of the petrochemical hubs.

Are we to look forward to the day when the state government will accept an offer by Dow Chemicals to start a unit in West Bengal? Will the CPM then delegate its Politburo members to disseminate state propaganda to persuade us that it is right for them to accept the offer of this successor of Union Carbide, which killed more than 20,000 people in Bhopal? Or will we be told that Bhopal was a figment of our imagination — that it never happened?
http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:R0hibiRFAw8J:www.tehelka.com/story_main24.asp%3Ffilename%3Dop123006Singur_where.asp+DOW+West+Bengal+Link&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=8&gl=in

The Government of West Bengal is touting for investors to locate at the PPP petrochemical hub being developed on the coast at Haldia, about two hours south of Kolkata. This hub is one of six “petrochemical investment regions” the Indian Government wants to set-up across India. West Bengal’s neighbour, Orissa, will also be home to a hub. It is reported that foreign-based majors BASF, Exxon Mobil, Royal DSP, BP and Dow Chemicals are interested in the initiative.
http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:Cu-mUv-6SgAJ:www.iptu.co.uk/content/india_clusters_enviro.asp+DOW+West+Bengal+Link&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=32&gl=in

We should note that Ratan Tata is the president of the US-India CEO
Forum, which Mr. Bush and Mr. Manmohan Singh set up, as a part of the
"carrot-and-rod" process around the US-India Nuclear Deal. We should also note
that Mr. Ratan Tata has recently approached the government of India to set up
some kind of a "cleaning-up" fund to undo the damage that was done by Union
Carbide in Bhopal, with the exclusive intention of getting Dow Chemicals (who
had bought out Union Carbide) off the hook, so that they can be induced to
invest in India. It is indeed a small world.
"Tulkalam" ("Bedlam" in Bengali) is the first movie to highlight opposition in India to plans to build Special Economic Zones (SEZs) on agricultural land, touted by the government as key to making India more industrially competitive.

"The movie is a satire on the system and I am happy that the film has picked up so well and people are loving it," said Mithun Chakraborty, the ageing Bollywood star who plays the male lead in the Bengali film.

India has seen growing opposition to SEZs, especially in West Bengal where 14 people were killed and more than 100 injured in March in protests against a proposed chemical hub in Nandigram, a few hours drive southwest of Kolkata.In the latest violence over land for industry, at least 20 people were hurt near Kolkata in clashes on Sunday between police and activists opposed to a proposed Tata Motors factory.Opposition to that factory was the main inspiration for "Tulkalam", director Haranath Chakrabarty said.


Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee today rejected Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s recent request to all political parties to come up with an alternative site for a chemical hub. Banerjee said categorically that she will not allow any chemical hub in Haldia.It seems, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee-government won’t, at least for now, enter into any verbal duel with Trinamul Congress chief Miss Mamata Banerjee over the proposed chemical hub project at Haldia.

An all-party meeting has been called in Calcutta on Thursday to discuss ways to restore peace and normality in Nandigram.

The chemical hub must remain in Bengal, with adequate environmental protection. It is an opinoion backed by Intelligentsia Kolkata neglecting the implications of Chemical Hub. We have forgotten Bhopal so soon! The ruling class is annoyed and allegesthat In the name of petty politics, she is objecting to a petrochemical hub. A petrochemical hub like the one in Gujarat which houses the huge Reliance refinery would have turned around the economy of the state still lagging behind in Sensex India and Buddha Brand endangered!

Landmark EU chemical law passed

Industry and environmentalists have battled over the rules
The European Parliament has backed a deal, reached with EU governments, on wide-ranging legislation to control the use of toxic chemicals in industry.
The law is designed to make firms prove the thousands of chemicals they use in products from cars to clothes are safe.

It comes after years of wrangling between firms keen to avoid more red tape and environmentalists seeking to cut the use of hazardous pollutants.

EU nations will have until 2018 to implement the new rules.

Safety standards

Reach has been described as the most important piece of EU legislation for 20 years.

REACH IN NUMBERS
1,000 pages of text
30,000 chemicals to be registered over 11 years
At least one million more animal tests
Billions of euros saved in healthcare costs


Q&A: Reach chemicals law
It puts the onus on business rather than public authorities to test chemicals for safety - including the thousands of chemicals that have been used for years without proper understanding of their effect on health or the environment.

It is also meant to encourage the replacement of hazardous chemicals with safer ones, and to spur innovation.

However, environmentalists had always hoped the law would go further than it did in its final version - and industry groups still say it went too far.

"This deal is an early Christmas present for the chemicals industry, rewarding it for its intense and underhand lobbying campaign," said Green MEP Caroline Lucas.

Alain Perroy, director general of the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) said his members regretted the "unnecessary requirements" introduced for authorisation of chemicals.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6175421.stm

Bengal Resistance

Monday, March 26, 2007

Nandigram killings : Get informed

(This document is constantly being updated. Please keep checking. Original: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhhpcbb8_16dgq4wf )

Visit www.kafila.org and www.sanhati.com for some of the best alternative media reports
http://bengalresistance.blogspot.com/
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/us-india-business-council-mounts-38-company/story.aspx?guid=%7B0CEA82D5-360C-4803-84E1-166F9AC47789%7D

Tens of thousands of people continue to suffer the effects of the world’s worst industrial disaster — the chemical explosion and leakage of deadly gasses in 1984 at the Union Carbide (now Dow Chemical) pesticide manufacturing plant in Bhopal, which killed thousands of people. Survivors have launched a hunger strike to demand urgent assistance from the Madhya Pradesh government, including decent health care, uncontaminated drinking water, jobs, and pensions for those who are too ill to work. Wells in Bhopal are poisoned by toxic chemicals leaking from the abandoned factory — which Dow refuses to clean up — including agents known to cause cancer and birth defects. Survivors are also demanding reparations from the company. While the victims and their families continue to suffer, Dow corporate executives have not been brought to justice and continue to live in luxury in the US. Send a message of solidarity to the survivors at . For more information visit http://www.bhopal.net.
EU Ministers Vote on REACH chemical law - Davies
3.38.46pm GMT Tue 13th Dec 2005

Commenting on the agreement reached by EU Ministers on the REACH proposal Chris Davies, leader of the British Liberal Democrat MEPs and his party's negotiator on REACH for the past two years, said: "By rejecting MEPs demands that chemicals of very high concern should be replaced by safer alternatives, whenever possible, Ministers have torn the guts out of Parliament's plans to protect consumers."

"There's a lot that is good in these proposals, but having run a straight course, balancing the concerns of industry with the need to protect human health, the British presidency has fallen at the final fence.

"The suspicion is that Britain has backed down in the face of German pressure, and that Blair has tried to buy votes for his budget by caving in on chemicals."

US chemical companies leave their mark on EU law.
The Lancet, Volume 367, Issue 9510, Pages 556-557
S. Loewenberg
http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0140673606682032
US chemical manufacturers may still have a part in shaping the final version of the European Union's REACH initiative, but there is not much time remaining before that process reaches a conclusion, David Hansen, an associate professor of international business at Duquesne University, said May 2 at the 39th annual Pittsburgh Chemical Day conference. REACH or Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals, will establish an integrated system for the testing, registration, and restriction of chemicals in the EU.
http://www.reachlegislation.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=54&Itemid=2

New policy for chemical, petrochemical hubs announced
India Gazette
Tuesday 8th May, 2007
(IANS)

The government Tuesday launched a new policy to encourage the setting up of integrated petroleum, chemicals and petrochemical hubs in the country with each project expected to attract around $8.5 billion in investment.

Called the Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemical Investment Regions, or PCPIR, Policy, the new initiative is aimed at projects in oil refining, fertilisers, chemicals, crackers and pharmaceuticals, as also infrastructure for the same.

'The PCPIR policy has been launched to promote investments and make the country an important hub for domestic and international markets,' Chemicals, Fertilisers and Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan told a press conference here.

'The policy would give a thrust to industrialisation in these regions by way of setting up of downstream units, and in turn leading to the development of socio-economic infrastructure in the areas in and around the regions,' he said.

'Each of these PCPIRs is expected to attract Rs.350-Rs.400 billion,' he said and added that each project would cover an area of around 250 sq. km. with a minimum processing area of 100 sq. km.

The processing area will have manufacturing facilities and associated logistics, services and infrastructure, as also a non-processing area for residential areas, commercial complexes and other social and institutional infrastructure.
http://story.indiagazette.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/701ee96610c884a6/id/247248/cs/1/


Pl See:
Policy Resolution for Promotion of Petroleum, Chemicals and ... (PDF)
http://216.109.125.130/search/cache?p=Chemical+Policy+of+GOI&toggle=1&ei=UTF-8&fp_ip=IN&fr=yfp-t-501&u=chemicals.nic.in/PCPIRPolicy.pdf&w=chemical+chemicals+policy+goi&d=HrZqJernOqiY&icp=1&.intl=us
http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:DcZxmYtG4HAJ:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:West_Bengal+chemical+hub+in+West+Bengal&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=17&gl=in
http://www.bhopal.org/pictures/bartholomew/index.html
http://specials.rediff.com/news/2004/dec/01sld1.htm



Protest against Nandigram killings in Bhopal
BookmarkBlinkList Blogmarks Buddymarks del.icio.us Digg it Earthlink FeedMarker feedmelinks Furl Give a Link Gravee iFeedReaders Linkroll ma.gnolia Maple.nu Netvouz Netscape Newsvine Onlywire RawSugar reddit Scuttle Shadows Simpy Spurl StumbleUpon Taggly Wink Yahoo MyWeb PopCurrent SearchSniff joint press statement, March 16, 2007

Today, representatives of 8 Bhopal based organizations burnt effigy of Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, Chief Minister of West Bengal at Roshanpura Crossing in protest of police firing in Nandigram. The genocide perpetrated by the CPI(M)-led Left Front government and the West Bengal police on hapless villagers, share-croppers and peasants of Nandigram in the name of “bridge building” and “maintenance repairs” is strongly condemned by us and goes on to show the new low that the official Leftists of West Bengal has plunged into.

It is indeed surprising to note that the same CPI(M) which strains it’s vocal chords against the SEZ policy of the union government conveniently implements the same in the context of West Bengal. The Left Front government which stoops to new low everyday doesn’t even mind hobnobbing with Dow Chemicals for the proposed chemical hub in the state.

In Madhya Pradesh, the SEZ has been proposed in three regions namely Indore, Bhopal and Jabalpur. This setting up of the special economic zone will displace thousands and deny them of a livelihood of dignity and purpose.
http://www.icrindia.org/?p=142


Bhopal gas tragedy lives on, 20 years later
Evidence of contaminated water in Indian city mounts.

By Scott Baldauf | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

BHOPAL, INDIA – Nearly 20 years after an accident at a Union Carbide chemical plant killed thousands here, there are signs that a second tragedy is in the making. New environmental studies indicate that tons of toxic material dumped at the old plant have now seeped into the groundwater, affecting a new generation of Bhopal citizens.
The Indian government - long criticized for its lax regulation of Union Carbide and reluctance to pursue legal claims - now says it's ready to hold parent company Dow Chemical liable for the ground contamination.
For many, the Bhopal litigation serves as a test case for India's relationship with foreign businesses and investors. But for the victims of Bhopal, the gas tragedy is a matter of justice, compensation, and safety - all of which, they say, has been a long time in coming.

While Union Carbide settled a civil suit in 1989 by agreeing to pay victims a lump sum of $470 million, a criminal trial against the company and its top officials is entering its 15th year, with less than half of the few hundred witnesses having testified. And the compensation process has taken so long that the settlement fund has nearly doubled in value; Officials haven't decided how to dole out nearly $333 million in unplanned interest.

In the meantime, government inaction on water contamination may be affecting untold thousands who were seemingly left untouched by the poisonous gas accident of Dec. 3, 1984.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0504/p07s01-wosc.html

India Is Colonising Itself
Posted by Ahni March 26, 2007 India Is Colonising Itself
Arundhati Roy & Shoma Chaudhuri
26 March, 2007, www.tehelka.com

Arundhati Roy in conversation with Shoma Chaudhury on the violence rending our heartland

There is an atmosphere of growing violence across the country. How do you read the signs? Do you think it will grow more in the days to come? What are its causes? In what context should all this be read?

You don’t have to be a genius to read the signs. We have a growing middle class, being reared on a diet of radical consumerism and aggressive greed. Unlike industrializing western countries which had colonies from which to plunder resources and generate slave labour to feed this process, we have to colonize ourselves, our own nether parts. We’ve begun to eat our own limbs. The greed that is being generated (and marketed as a value interchangeable with nationalism) can only be sated by grabbing land, water and resources from the vulnerable. What we’re witnessing is the most successful secessionist struggle ever waged in Independent India. The secession of the middle and upper classes from the rest of the country. It’s a vertical secession, not a lateral one. They’re fighting for the right to merge with the world’s elite somewhere up there in the stratosphere. They’ve managed to commandeer the resources , the coal, the minerals, the bauxite, the water and electricity. Now they want the land to make more cars, more bombs, more mines – super toys for the new super citizens of the new superpower. So it’s outright war, and people on both sides are choosing their weapons. The government and the corporations reach for Structural Adjustment, the World Bank, the ADB, FDI, friendly court orders, friendly policy makers, help from the ‘friendly’ corporate media and a police force that will ram all this down peoples’ throats. Those who want to resist this process have, until now, reached for dharnas, hunger-strikes, satyagraha, the courts, and what they thought was friendly media. But now, more and more are reaching for guns. Will the violence grow? If the ‘growth rate’ and the sensex are going to be the only barometres the government uses to measure progress and the well-being of people, then of course it will. How do I read the signs? It isn’t hard to read sky-writing. What it says up there, in big letters is this: The shit has hit the fan, folks.
http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:1z-Yt35xKHYJ:intercontinentalcry.org/india-is-colonising-itself/+DOW+West+Bengal+Link&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=60&gl=in

Bhopal disaster
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Bhopal Disaster took place in the early hours of the morning of December 3, 1984,[1] in the heart of the city of Bhopal, India, in the state of Madhya Pradesh. It was caused by the release of 27 tonnes of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas from a Union Carbide India, Limited pesticide plant owned by Union Carbide. The International Medical Commission on Bhopal was established in 1993 to respond to the disaster. The Dow Chemical Company purchased Union Carbide in 2001 for $10.3 billion in stock and debt. Dow has publicly stated several times that the Union Carbide settlement payments have already fulfilled Dow's financial responsibility for the disaster.

The BBC gives the death toll as nearly 3,000 people dead initially, and at least 15,000 from related illnesses since.[2] Amnesty International cites 22,000 total deaths as its conservative estimate. Bhopal is frequently cited as the world's worst industrial disaster.[3][4]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_Disaster
Read also:
http://www.hu.mtu.edu/hu_dept/tc@mtu/papers/bhopal.htm
http://www.mp.nic.in/bgtrrdmp/profile.htm
http://www.icmr.icfai.org/casestudies/catalogue/Business%20Ethics/BECG009.htm
http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/vdhara/www.BhopalPublications/Health%20Policy/Bhopal%20tragedy-evasion%20of%20corp%20responsibility.pdf
http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:dFjAhyvB-pYJ:www.thesouthasian.org/archives/2006/minorities_and_the_west_bengal.html+DOW+West+Bengal+Link&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=15&gl=in
http://www.thesouthasian.org/archives/cat_dalit.html

Buddha the butcher of Bengal claims ''While the proposed car project will offer employment to 4,000 people and galvanize the economy of the area, a small number of people are bent on opposing it.''

People in Bengal have started comparing this modern day Buddha of Bengal with Saddam Hussein of Iraq. This is the butcher of Bengal. Stalin and Mao's follower, the communist Buddha is the chief minister of Bengal is now the butcher of Bengal.

However, one thing is right the Butcher of Bengal wants to take Bengal on top at any costs.
Expressing surprise over the spurt of violence at Singur, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjeesaid a handful of people were creating trouble against the interests of the majority.
Even the CPM bigwigs in Delhi maintain that the government could have averted the carnage on March 14, if it had officially cancelled the land acquisition notification issued by the Haldia Development Authority.

The CPM central committee, calling it a "mistake", has given a piece of its mind in a recent party letter to all front-ranking activists. Significantly, the "party letter" has been circulated among the district committee members in the state, instead of the usual "party chithi" from the West Bengal state committee. Party bosses in Delhi feel that it was not sufficient for the chief minister to announce that his government will not acquire land in Nandigram. The government should have taken a formal decision and communicated it down the administration. The central committee noted that the decision was communicated after the March 14 killings in Nandigram.

CPM bigwigs maintain that the party in state couldn’t read the sentiments of the farmers, who are conscious of their land rights. Even after giving the go-ahead to the state government’s industrialisation plans, the central party leaders underlined the need for a sustained campaign among all categories of farmers before taking over agricultural land for industry.

They want Alimuddin Street to review the role of the state government, which was kept pending in the last two state committee meetings after the incident. Some of the state committee members such as Amiya Patra and Anil Bose wanted a discussion on the issue at the last meeting. But CPM state secretary Biman Bose put the introspection on hold for the time being.

Even before CBI and CID came out with reports on the March 14 incident, state CPM leaders submitted a report to the central committee saying that eight persons were killed by police, while six others, who succumbed to bullet wounds and bomb splinters, were not victims of police firing.

In a desperate bid to make up for the loss of face at the national level, the CPM central committee has asked state party leaders to tread with caution regarding other industrial projects. The government should try its best to build up a consensus at the grass-roots level before starting a project, the central committee "party letter" advises.
It is heartening to note that the the International Union of Food,
Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers'
Associations (IUF) , based in Geneva, has called on the Secretary-General of
the UN's International Labour Organization to intervene urgently with the
government authorities in response to escalating police violence and repression
in West Bengal, India. Fo full details click on the link:
below:http://www.iuf.org/den4067


It is also worth noting that just a few days ago Mr. Francesco Martone, a
Senator in the Italian Parliament, has presented a petition to the Senate of
Italian Republic, highlighting the partnership between the Fiat of Italy and
the Tatas of India, which forsees "investments of more than 900 million dollars
in the short and long terms, and which includes also a relevant participation
in the production of low-cost-cars supposed to reach the market within the year
2008". Mr. Francesco Martone's petition goes on to say: "In fact we don't know
if Fiat's President, Mr. Montezemolo is aware of what has happened and is still
happening at the Singur site (in West Bengal) where the mega Tata-Plant is
supposed to be built and where work is already under way ... But the fact is
that this area was, till yesterday, a very fertile area and intensely
cultivated, inhabited by not less than 22,000 people who were totally dependent
on agriculture for their livelihood.... Far less land would !
be sufficient, so we can presume that the excess will function for future real
estate speculation. It is not by chance that Tata insisted on this land because
of its proximity to Kolkata. ... The police have resorted to force but disorder
and protest have not been stopped and up till now the clashes continue, even
reaching the centre of Kolkata with recurrent episodes of violence. A girl of
18, an organizer of the farmers' movement, was kidnapped in the middle of the
night, subjected to mass rape, strangled and finally burned". Senator Martone
concluded with the hope that the project of Tata Motors was "not to the
detriment of the legitimate desires and needs of the farming population and of
the economic activities with which they are connected, whose optimal
development, as a member state of the European Union and as a nation, Italy
holds in no lesser importance than those of industry."
(the full report can be sent if required).

Dow Paid Bribes; Indian Government Takes No Action
http://www.thesouthasian.org/archives/2007/dow_paid_bribes_indian_governm.html

While farmers continue to commit suicide owing to crop failure and debts, the government refuses to take an action against Dow even while it is discovered by the US Securities and Exchange Commission that the company made improper payments to regulatory officials in India, introducing numerous pesticides that fall outside Indian regulations.


Dow Chemicals was fined with a civil penalty of $ 325,000 by the US Securities & Exchange Commission [SEC] after reports of improper payments to regulatory officials in India had emerged from the company's own accounting. The payments of upto 8.8 million Indian rupees were reported to have been made by De-Nocil, the then subsidiary of Dow Chemicals for getting various regulatory clearances for Dow's pesticides business in India during 1996 and 2001.

Some Dow pesticides registered during 1996-2001 in India (as Compiled through a search on the Dow AgroSciences India website) are listed as their brand names (chemical names):

Atracil 50% WP (Atrazine)

Saviour (Mancozeb)

Delthene (Acephate 75% SP)

Vapona (Dichlorvos 76% EC)

Goal (Oxyflourfen 23.5% EC)

Dursban 10G (Chlorpyrifos 10%G)

Bengard 50% WP (Carbendazim 50% WP)

Nurelle D 505 (Chlorpyrifos 50% EC + Cypermethrin 5% EC)

Cilcord 10% EC (Cypermethrin 10% EC)

Miraculan (Triacontanol 0.05% EC)

Cilcord 25% EC (Cypermethrin 25% EC)

Trooper 75% WP (Tricyclazole 75% WP)

Pride 20% SP (Acetamiprid 20% SP)

Clincher 10% EC (Cyhalofop butyl)

Treflan 48% EC (Trifluralin 48% EC)

Monocil 36% SL (Monocrotophos)

Success 2.5% SC (Spinosad 2.5% SC)

Magister 10% EC (Fenazaquin 10% EC)

Miticil 50% EC (Ethion 50% EC)

Tracer 45% SC (Spinosad 45% SC)

One senior official in the Central Insecticides Board of India had reportedly received around 1.6 million rupees for registering Dow's pesticides in India during the said period and while state officials had received the remaining amount for licensing related to distribution and sale of these pesticides. This is a shameful episode and reinforces the public picture with regard to pesticides regulation in the country.

Dow Chemicals is also the owner of Union Carbide Corporation, which was responsible for the Bhopal genocide and the subsequent poisoning of thousands of lives that continues to this day due to contamination from tonnes of toxic chemicals lying around in the factory premises. Dow Chemicals to this day has not come forward to accept its pending liabilities in this case even as valuable lives of Bhopalis are being lost, while thousands of others continue to suffer.

Dow Chemicals continues to sell in India some Class I pesticides like Monocrotophos while most of the developed world has banned this pesticide years ago. Their flagship product Dursban (chlorpyrifos) is banned for domestic use in the US, Dow's home country. The company has no qualms using double standards for this product between American citizens and Indians and continues to make money out of it in India.

Dow's dishonest practices have been highlighted a number of times by many activist groups in the country, notably of Bhopal disaster survivors. For instance, Dow Corning, a joint venture of Dow Chemicals, obtained regulatory approval from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board for setting up a factory near Pune despite submitting a map of one of its factories in the USA instead of a local site map as required by Indian law.

While that is the known and well established case with Dow, this entire episode brings to the fore the serious and unacceptable shortcomings related to pesticide regulation in this country. We have been pointing out repeatedly that pesticide regulation should begin with pest management as the basic premises including safer alternatives in the hands of farmers being used in the assessment related to efficacy of a particular pesticide. However, a chemical-based risk management approach has always driven pesticide regulation, including tests related to safety and efficacy. There is no independent scrutiny of data being generated and it is the industry-generated and sponsored data that is used as the basis for decision making. The entire process is opaque and narrowly framed. Further, there is very little scope for scientific reviewing allowed.

Corrupt practices in pesticide registration have been highlighted by vigilant media several times in the past. However, no action has been taken to improve the regulatory systems. There are numerous problems pertaining to enforcement of the regulatory regime too.

For instance, Dow [ http://www.dowagro.com/india/index.htm] recommends several of its pesticides for crops and uses not recognized by the Central Insecticides Board and Registration Committee [CIBRC] as per its public database. This is a blatant violation of the Insecticides Act.

To take a few examples, the following Dow products are not recommended by the CIBRC [ http://cibrc.nic.in] for the recommendations that Dow is putting out to the farmers. Notice that a number of these pesticides were registered between 1996 and 2001, when Dow was paying bribes to government officials.




WB industries minister, Mr Nirupam Sen, refused to be dragged into any war of words with Miss Banerjee who had told a rally of protesters against farmland acquisition at Haldia yesterday that she would oppose any attempt to set up the chemical hub at the cost of farmers. Miss Banerjee questioned the state government’s proposal to set up the hub as per the Centre’s plan to build petroleum, chemical and petro-chemical investment regions (PCPIR) by acquiring about 62,000 acres of land at Haldia.

The Centre will build several such regions in the country. Copies of the project had been given from the chief minister’s office to different political parties to elicit their opinions on the project.
Asked to respond to the Trinamul chief’s assertion at Haldia, the industries minister said : “We have asked suggestions from the political parties in writing. As soon as we get the Trinamul’s views in writing we would be in a position to comment.”

West Bengal Govt. had earlier wanted the hub to be set up at Nandigram in Purbo Medinipur district However, it decided against the move in the wake of resentment by a section of the local people Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has sought the views of all political parties having a representation in the West Bengal Assembly on the site of a proposed chemical hub in the State. The Government had earlier wanted the hub to be set up at Nandigram in Purbo Medinipur district. However, it decided against the move in the wake of resentment by a section of the local people and the sporadic violence that broke out in Nandigram over the setting up of the project there.

Mr. Bhattacharjee is keen to go ahead with the proposal but not without the consent of all parties. He has recently sent a letter to the leaders of the parties seeking their opinion on an alternative site for the project.

Collective decision


The Chief Minister has mentioned that after receiving a response from the parties he intends to convene an all-party meeting, where a collective decision can be taken.

The letter states that the Centre has agreed to the proposed chemical hub being set up in the State with the Indian Oil Corporation as the anchor investor. A detailed note on the proposed project has been enclosed with the letter. That the hub should come up in the proximity of the Haldia port has also been stated.

Mamata OK to hub, but not on farmland

Barely 48 hours before the peace talks on Nandigram, Mamata Banerjee struck a conciliatory note, saying she would welcome a chemical hub in neighbouring Haldia if it didn’t come up at the cost of farmers.