Cuddalore,
28 May 2006:
35 year old J. Kaliamurthy of Periya Karaikadu sustained a severe head injury and fractured both hands after falling from a height on the third floor of an unapproved construction within Pioneer Miyagi Chemicals. The mishap took place at 7:45
am on 28 May, 2006. Mr. Kaliamurthy’s friend rushed him to Krishna Hospital with no assistance from the company. SIPCOT monitors who were at the spot within 30 minutes said none of the company officials accompanied the victim, and
worked continued apace even after the accident. The victim was not given first aid in the company, and he was able to reach the hospital after a car obligingly stopped on the highway to take him. SACEM confirms that construction work resumed on 29 May. The DEE has been informed of this development as well.
SACEM informed the District Environment Engineer (DEE) of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) and the Deputy Inspector of Factories immediately. The TNPCB official confirmed that Pioneer did not have a Consent to Establish for the construction in question. According to Mr. Karthikeyan, the DEE of TNPCB, the company was issued a letter directing it to not engage in any construction activity until clearance was given. The company chose to ignore the letter and continued to build. The Plant Supervisor Mr. M. Ramaiah also confirmed that the company did not have a Consent to Establish from the TNPCB.
DEE along with the SACEM members inspected the site of the accident, accompanied by Mr. Ramaiah. According to SACEM, the construction site was strewn with rods and pipes, and the conditions and work practices were inherently
unsafe. The third floor of the unit was flooded with water, increasing the vulnerability of workers. The DEE has promised to take strict action against the unit for violating the Board’s order. The Deputy Inspector of Factories has also promised to look into the matter.
However, going by previous experience, the DEE’s actions and recommendations will not be followed by the Board. If the Board’s track record is anything to go by, Pioneer Miyagi’s construction schedule will suffer a slight delay, but the company’s illegal construction will be legalized by the Board without levying even a token fine for having commenced construction without permission.
No new construction can be undertaken without permission from both the TNPCB and the Inspector of Factories. However, the TNPCB routinely condones illegal construction, especially for companies that are politically well connected. Recently, it accorded post-facto clearance to Tagros Chemicals – a notorious polluter and one of the more unsafe units in SIPCOT – after the company had illegally constructed an entire factory and operated the factory for several years. The company had been ordered shut for a month, after which the company resumed operations upon receipt of post-facto clearance.
Pioneer Miyagi manufactures gelatin from cow and camel bones for export, among other places, to Japan. Known as a notorious polluter, the company’s emissions smell of rotting carcasses. SACEM members have also identified Pioneer as
a routine discharger or illegal effluents through streams and illegal channels to the River Uppanar.