The Hindu : National : Activists raise protest banner against sponge iron industry

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Wednesday, Sep 07, 2005

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National

Activists raise protest banner against sponge iron industry

Staff Reporter

BHUBANESWAR: A group of 50 social workers and representatives of different voluntary organisations from Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand voiced their opposition to sponge iron factories in these States.

The group, which held a meeting here recently to discuss the impact of sponge iron units on the livelihood and environment in the region, decided to organise a demonstration in Raipur during the winter session of Parliament with the demand, "No more sponge iron." There was a need to look at this issue in the larger context of the State selling natural resources to domestic and foreign companies without considering the impact on the local population and economy, the participants said. Sixty per cent of the sponge iron industries in the country were small-scale industries, many of which were in the unorganised sector. This meant that the rights of those who worked in these plants were not protected and these units lacked the capacity to deal with hazardous waste, the activists said.

In a statement, they pointed out that while the sponge iron manufacturers of Orissa claimed that they employed 37,000 people, a study by a non-government organisation indicated that these plants operating in six districts of the State affected almost two lakh people. A study by Sagar Dhara, an environmental engineer in Sukruli block of Mayurbhanj district in 2001 indicated that there were carcinogenic contents in the effluent discharge from a sponge iron plant. "Sponge iron plants release hazardous pollutants like cadmium, nickel, hexavalent chromium, arsenic, manganese and copper. The heavy metals in these particulate matters are most dangerous and can cause quick damage to fruit-bearing trees, agricultural harvest and human beings,'' the study said.

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