Kendrapara: The coastal pocket of Batighar gram panchayat in Mahakalapada block of this district is caught in a serious problem – health hazards due to the emission of toxic gas at regular intervals from the Paradeep-based Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd(IFFCO), the country’s largest fertilizer manufacturer in the cooperative sector. The villagers of Bada Tubi are the worst-affected.
The district administration has ordered an inquiry into the complaints from locals by directing the tehsildar of Mahakalapada tehsildar Thursday to have an on-the-spot inspection, said the ADM of Kendrapara, Basant Kumar Rout. Locals alleged that several complaints in the past to the district collector/magistrate were of no help.
About 28 residents of Bada Tubi are suffering from stomach-related disease, including cancer. A villager, Niranjan Mandal, recently died of such ailment. The people are troubled also by skin diseases and breathing problems due to “the discharge of toxic/gaseous substances in the air by the IFFCO,” as activists allege.
Ranjan Kumar Das, the district convener of the Odisha Soochana Adhikar Abhijan(OSAA) and others cite the cases of Abhijit Boita, Santilata Maity, Jayanti Ray, Mahendra Mandal, Somanath Ray, Prasant Mahaladar, Durga Mandal and Rudra Mandal from the area, who have turned disabled “due to the IFFCO emissions”.
Every time there is a discharge of these chemical substances into the air, the coastal villagers feel suffocation and a burning sensation in their nose, ear and throat, said Nimai Kumar Baidya, member of Ward 1 of Bada Tubi. “Such is the scene that if and when someone has to go out of his home, he will cover his nose with wet clothes. The emissions have hit trees, livestock and environment as a whole,” allege another activist Jayanta Tripathy.
These posed hazards to vegetation, aquatic lives, and human health. Tree leaves are turning blackish due to the presence in atmosphere of the toxic substance. The livestock is feeding on these leaves, noted a local, Indrajit Biswas.
The IFFCO has opened homoeopathy dispensaries in some panchayats in Mahakalapada block, with an aim to provide free treatment to the affected residents. It is not taking any other steps to help the locals escape the ill effects of the effluence from the plants so far, complain locals.
GUIDELINE, NO ACTION
In fact, a guideline had been issued by the government to the IFFCO in this respect. Under this, it had been asked to organise free health camps, free distribution of medicines, provision for hygienic drinking water, free health and crop insurance scheme, social forestry, roads etc under the corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) provisions, as per the revised Company Act-2013. Not a single pie has been spent by the company on these counts in the affected village.
As per the CSR guidelines, IFFCO should spend two percent of its annual income for the development of the affected areas, but this has not been done, the villagers said..
The OSAA brought the matter to the attention of the ADM Wednesday, saying the villagers faced health hazards due to the toxic emissions. They demanded that the IFFCO authority and the district officials visit the village for an on-the-spot study of the situation. IFFCO, they pleaded, should provide Rs 7lakh to the cancer patients of Bada Tubi. It should take safety measures and check emission of poisonous gas. It should also be having a system for waste management. Besides, the company should inform the locals before releasing gaseous substances into the air and also create awareness on safety measures etc, OSAA said.
