Celebrating Resistance: An Exhibition to Remember Three Decades of Struggle in Bhopal

Yes, Warren Anderson lived a full life of 92 years, escaping every law suit or call or cry possible. He probably had a wonderful memorial service organized by friends, family and colleagues. He will probably go down in corporate text books as the most resilient force against human rights movements as The Escapist, The Illusionist…

We can’t forget him. But, why does any struggle that questions economic growth, foreign investment, environmental degradation, or human right violations need to be part of our memory? Can’t we forget it as just another disaster? The thing is, these issues are not just happening in Bhopal, Cuddalore, Idinthakarai, or any one place. It is not a localized thing…

So The Remember Bhopal Trust inspired by the three decades of struggle by the Bhopal survivors, want to travel around the country, collect stories from similar struggles and weave it all in to a permanent museum in Bhopal.

As a start, from this Sunday, 9th of November 2014 to next Saturday the 15th of November 2014, in Chennai, the Trust has organized an exhibition of the lived memories of the disaster and the struggle that has followed.

Check out the event on Facebook. Join, invite, and go. Read and learn about the struggle at Bhopal.net

The Guindy National Park (GNP) is dying a slow death by a thousand cuts – Join the campaign now

 

Green spaces that provided critical corridors for wildlife to move in and out of the park are being eaten into. National parks and wildlife sanctuaries require a buffer zone around them where human activities are strictly regulated and pressures on the ecosystem and wildlife are kept to a minimum. Without such buffers, parks have little chance for surviving in the long run. Such a buffer zone is legally mandated. The Tamil Nadu Government has refused to notify a buffer zone around the Guindy National Park.

This will mean that even the last remaining green spaces and the wildlife habitats around the Guindy National Park, such as the Raj Bhavan and Indian Institute of Technology-Madras’ campuses, will have no protection under law. Along with GNP, the Raj Bhavan and IIT-M campuses contain the last remaining healthy stands of the rare Southern Thorn Forests and the Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest types.

 

Please join this campaign: http://chn.ge/1lC8adf

The Vettiver Collective has organised a human chain campaign with colourful banners and white shirts near the Besant Nagar Eliot’s beach police booth at 5.30 p.m. Please join them this evening to save the city’s national park.

shared by Vettiver Collective. 

RGF: Birds and Buildings at Medavakkam

08:30 a.m. Rakesh spots a stretch of the Medavakkam marsh surrounded by construction.

Birds and buildings at Medavakkam. Photo by Rakesh.

Electricity Board’s Leaky Bucket – Justice Rocks Concert, Sunday, March 16, 2014, at SPACES, Besant Nagar

(Join the event on Facebook)

The Bicycle Powered Generator (Courtesy: Harsha, Arvind, Srinath, Gautam. Photo by Pooja)

SPACES Wall Painting (Courtesy: Khateeja, Pooja, and co. Photo by Youth Action on Climate Change, Chennai)

The Bicycle Powered Generator (Courtesy: Harsha, Arvind, Srinath, Gautam. Photo by Youth Action on Climate Change, Chennai)

“Tamil Nadu reportedly has an electricity deficit of about 2000 MW. It is this deficit that is behind our legendary power cuts. What if we were to tell you that this deficit can be bridged quite simply, without much cost and without setting up a single new power plant?” ( via Leaky Bucket’s Concept Note)

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Youth Action on Climate Change, Chennai, is getting ready this week to show us how to run an entire evening of music, theatre, comedy and satire with a bicycle powered generator. The SPACES wall has been painted with images of power plants, protesters, a grim reaper character with a bucket full of holes, and in nice bold red letters: TNEB. 😀

This year, the Justice Rocks concert is un-sponsored by the Electricity Board. Leaky Bucket will be an evening of finding possibilities. How can we save electricity, instead of producing more of it that we can waste? Wait! Do we really waste electricity? Leaky Bucket writes:

“…With water it is more visible. We see the Metrowater tankers spilling precious sweet water. We see leaky pipes, and overflowing overhead tanks. The losses and wastage of electricity are not always that obvious. But they are equally large, and easily avoidable…”

So where do we lose all of this electricity? Leaky Bucket’s concept note points out that from 2012 to 2013, in the span of just one year, Tamil Nadu lost over 20 percent of the electricity pumped into its grid and distribution infrastructure. “In the 180,000 megawatts of electricity generated in India, 72,000 megawatts, 40 percent is lost or wasted.” (via Koodankulam FAQ) Leaky Bucket finds the holes in the bucket:

1. Transmission & Distribution Loss: Official figures state that about 20 percent of all electricity that is pumped into Tamil Nadu’s grid and distribution infrastructure is lost due to inefficient transmission and distribution even before it reaches consumers. This is solely technical losses, and does not include theft and other commercial losses. In 2012-2013, Tamil Nadu’s peak demand was 12,700 MW. Only 11000 MW was supplied to consumers, and there was a shortage of 1700 MW. Of the 13,200 MW that was generated and poured into the grid, 20 percent — or 2200 MW — was lost in transmission and distribution inefficiencies due to use of substandard material and equipment, and poor management of load and distribution infrastructure. If losses were brought down to, say, 4 percent as in Japan, only 500 MW from the 13,200 MW would be lost. No deficit. No power cuts. The T&D losses are a big hole in the bucket.
2. Agricultural Pumpsets: Agri pumpsets are horribly inefficient, and use a lot of electricity to draw out water. We do not have an accurate figure for how much is consumed in this sector because agricultural consumption is not metered. It is widely known that State Electricity Boards inflate figures for agricultural consumption by showing T&D losses as agri consumption to avail of state subsidies for the sector and to downplay inefficiency. Metering agricultural pumpsets will give us an accurate figure of T&D losses and the opportunities to reduce the same. Introducing energy efficient pumpsets can yield savings of 30 to 40 percent from the overall agri consumption. Finally, planting choices and agricultural practices need to change from water-intensive crops such as sugarcane and rice. Free and unmetered electricity and water-intensive crops have led to electricity shortage and falling groundwater levels.
3. Stupid Buildings: Commercial buildings, particularly luxury hotels, IT companies and the new glass and steel buildings are wasters of electricity. For one, much of the consumption there is for luxury and not survival. Secondly, if they are built smartly, they will not consume as much electricity as they do now. For instance, many of these buildings use glass frontage. Glass traps heat and increases cooling costs. To reduce cooling costs, the glass is tinted. This prevents the abundant daylight available in our state from lighting up the buildings. So these stupid buildings use air-conditioners and lighting 24×7.
4. Wasteful Consumption: Elections are around the corner. Political parties will start setting up garish decorations — to light up their street corner events or flex banners. Miles of road stretches will be lit up by tubelights with stolen electricity. Advertising billboards are another area of wasteful consumption. 100 units of electricity is more than sufficient to power an average home for a month. 25 large billboards will consume in a day what is sufficient for an average family for a month. If electricity is truly scarce, how is it that hotels, malls and rich houses waste so much electricity in cooling, lighting and other luxuries just because they can pay for it. Consider this: Reliance’s Mukesh Ambani’s monthly electricity bill at his 75-storeyed house in Mumbai is Rs. 76 lakhs. The house consumes 55,000 units a month, or the equivalent of 550 families.
5. Commercial and Domestic Consumers: The devices we use at home and in our commercial and industrial buildings also leave us with plenty of opportunity to reduce wastage. A Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) uses only 25 percent of the electricity required to produce the same amount using an incandescent lamp (bulb). So, a 100W bulb can be replaced with a 25W CFL without any reduction in light. While the bulb will consume 1 unit in 10 hours, a CFL will only consume 0.25 units. Similar improvements are possible for refrigeration, fans, pumpsets, grinders and other common household appliances. One study estimates that replacing all incandescent bulbs with CFLs in Tamil Nadu can yield a savings of 2000 MW (far more than our current deficit)

Efficiency enhancement measures are very inexpensive in comparison to capacity enhancement measures. While conservation and efficiency improvement cost about Rs. 50 lakhs per megawatt saved, setting up a nuclear plant will cost about Rs. 26 crores per megawatt of production capacity. Coal costs about Rs. 7 crores per megawatt; solar about Rs. 8 crores and wind about Rs. 4 crores/megawatt.

Leaky Bucket invites everyone for an open evening of music, comedy, and cycling. Join them to ask the Government to improve efficiency, reduce losses and curtail wastage. Follow them on Facebook. Let’s sing, laugh and dance, for we don’t need any more power plants.

shared by samyuktha pc. 

Sterlite Closed

30 March, 2013 — The Tamil Nadu Government has relented to public pressure and shut down Sterlite Industries’ copper complex today. According to a worker, officials from 10 government departments arrived by the vanload in the plant last night at 8 p.m. The management then called a meeting of all staff and workers, and announced that the plant was shutting down. Sterlite requested time till about 12 midnight for phased closure, and this was conceded by the Government. By 1210 a.m. all plants except the smelter were shut down. Electricity connection to the copper complex has been disconnected.

On March 28, 2013, more than 5000 people from Thoothukudi — led by the Anti Sterlite People’s Struggle Committee — marched towards Sterlite to shut down the plant. Nearly 1000 people were arrested. The rally was prompted by a toxic gas leak on March 23. Sterlite has been a controversial company since the time that it was proposed in 1994. In its 20 years of operation, it has been shut down twice by the Madras High Court — once by way of an interim order, and in September 2010 through a final order. Sterlite appealed the High Court’s closure order in the Supreme Court, and the plant that was shut down last night was operating on leave from the Supreme Court.

A verdict on the Supreme Court case is expected on 2 April, 2013.

from Nityanand J.

Infographic: Shark Attack

from Oceana.org

Please scroll down all the way. Shocking.

A new study published earlier this year in Marine Policy put the number of sharks slaughtered each year at 100 million, or roughly three sharks caught per second. Outraged by these shocking numbers, Joe Chernov and Robin Richards created an infographic to put the figures in perspective. While shark attacks on humans do happen (there were 12 fatal ones last year) the existential threat humans pose to the future of sharks is far graver. While there’s a lot to be said about the horrors of shark finning, we’ll let this graphic do the talking.

found by Rahul Muralidharan.

Vedanta-Sterlite: Dangerous by Design

(from Kafila.org)

by Nityanand Jayaraman

A toxic hotspot in the backyard of a house in Therkuveerapandiapuram, a village adjoining the Sterlite factory. Dangerous levels of iron and arsenic were found in the soil here. (Picture by Nityanand Jayaraman)

On 23 March, 2013, a toxic gas leak from Vedanta-subsidary Sterlite’s copper smelter in Thoothukudi spread panic and discomfort for several kilometres around the plant. The leak once again highlighted the increased potential for major catastrophes due to an atmosphere of collusion between regulators and polluters. The company, which was shut down for maintenance, resumed operations in the early hours of 23 March. Within hours, people in the nearby areas complained of suffocation and eye and nose irritation. A 35-year old Bihari contract labourer, who was working at Sterlite’s thermal power plant nearly a kilometre away, reportedly succumbed to the effects of the toxic gas. Irate residents rallied to the District Collector’s office demanding permanent closure of the offending factory.

The District Collector suggested that sulphur dioxide may have been the culprit. But anyone who knows the history of this plant would lay the blame not on this gas or that, but squarely on pliant regulators, and perhaps the judiciary.

The 1200 tonne per day (tpd) copper smelter was constructed in two phases – both with dubious legality – with active support of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) and the chairperson of the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee (SCMC). In September 2004, when SCMC visited Thoothukudi, it found that Sterlite had constructed a 900 tonne per day copper smelter complex without obtaining an Envirnomental Clearance from the MoEF. Neither did the plant have the mandatory Consents to Establish under Air and Water Acts.

Citing poor pollution management, the SCMC recommended that clearance should not be given. It ordered the TNPCB to verify the illegal constructions and take action. Contrary to recommendations, clearance was given a day after of the Committee’s visit to Sterlite. TNPCB inspected and confirmed the illegal constructions, but did nothing more.

On 7 April, 2005, a director at the MoEF wrote to the chairperson of TNPCB urging her to grant a Consent to Operate to Sterlite. “The directions issued by SCMC in this regard has (sic) been discussed with Chairman, SCMC, who has desired that TNPCB may now decide regarding granting consent for expansion to M/s Sterlite Industries India Ltd (SIIL) Tuticorin, Tamilnadu,” she wrote. The Air and Water Acts do not have any provision for legalising units constructed without a valid Consent to Establish. TNPCB obliged and issued a consent on 19 April 2005.

Sterlite went on to expand its capacity to 1200 tpd. To get its licenses, Sterlite exaggerated the extent of land in its possession. In 2007, Sterlite submitted an Environment Impact Assessment report that suggested that it had greened 26 hectares of its 102.5 hectare plant site. It claimed that it had sufficient lands – about 176 ha — in its possession to accommodate the expanded capacity and the resultant pollution (solid waste, air emission and effluents). It promised to plant 43 hectares with pollution-abating trees. Subsequent inspection reports by the TNPCB even state that the company had greened 25 percent of its 176 hectare land holding.

On 28 September 2010, the Madras High Court ordered closure of the copper plant. One key grounds for closure was the industry’s failure to comply with the condition requiring the development of a 25 metre greenbelt around the factory. TNPCB was chided for arbitrarily reducing the greenbelt requirement from 250 metres to 25 metres in response to Sterlite’s lament about high land costs associated with the wider belt.

The Madras High Court had rightly held that the failure to comply with greenbelt requirements was a crippling lapse. Indeed, had a thick belt existed, the effects of the recent gas leak would not have reached the city.
When Sterlite was shut down by the High Court, the factory was running without valid licenses under Air and Water Acts. Two days later, the Supreme Court stayed the High Court order and unwittingly authorised the unlicensed operation of a disputed facility.

In May 2011, Sterlite’s non-compliance of greenbelt requirements and its land fraud came to light in a report submitted by NEERI to the Supreme Court. Against a requirement of 176 hectares for the 1200 tonne plant, Sterlite had only 102.5 hectares, the report found. Also, less than 13 hectares – as against 43 hectares – had been greened.

Since October 2010, Sterlite has functioned on leave granted by the Supreme Court. During the apex court’s watch, at least 8 hazardous incidents were recorded where 3 workers were killed, four more injured. Several hundred people in the vicinity of the plant have been gassed.

Under the circumstances, faith in the rule of law is not an easy belief system to sustain.

UPDATE

Thoothukudi Gears up For Major Showdown with Sterlite

27 March, 2013. Thoothukudi – Residents of the coastal Tamilnadu town of Thoothukudi are gearing up for a major showdown with Sterlite on 28 March, less than a week after a massive gas leak injured hundreds of people for kilometres around the company’s controversial copper smelter. Numerous groups, cutting across political lines, will march from the city to Sterlite’s gates demanding its permanent closure. In the 20 years that it has functioned, Sterlite has been blamed for numerous mishaps, deaths and injuries. It has been closed twice by the Madras High Court, including in September 2010 when the High Court shut it down through its final order arguing that the company had violated siting setbacks, pollution norms and licence conditions.Tomorrow’s rally is gathering massive support as the Tamil Nadu Federation of Merchants led by Vellian, and the Esakkimuthu Conch Divers Association have said they will participate in the strike. The call for the strike was originally given by Vaiko, a political leader of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, who said that this was an issue that transcended politics, and that the residents are united in their desire to rid their city of Sterlite’s Bhopal-like factory. Other prominent Thoothukudi-based workers organisations too have committed their support to the strike. The Anna Bus Stand Taxi Drivers Association, and the Anna Bus Stand Auto Drivers Welfare Association with nearly 200 auto drivers as members have said they will boycott work and join the residents demanding closure of Sterlite. Many more organisations and political parties are expected to join.“We are very angry. We have seen numerous such agitations start and then stop. We want an end to this nonsense. Sterlite must be shut down,” said 55 year old M. Shanmugavelu, Presidents of the Auto workers Association.34-year old M. Kishorekumar, who is the president of Taxi Drivers Association clarifies that they are not opposed to industries. “We want good industries to come to Thoothukudi, to Tamil Nadu. But Sterlite is not good for us. It is a dangerous factory. We have to think about our futures too,” he says. “My 11-year old son suffered because of the gas leak. It is now three days since the leak, and he is still complaining of head ache, eye and throat irritation, a bitter taste in his mouth and has no appetite. I have had to take him to hospital for three days. He has to go to school with all this because it is examination time,” Kishorekumar says.

List of Hazardous Incidents at Sterlite Industries between October 2010 and March 2013 during the time the plant has run on leave granted by Hon’ble Supreme Court.

Compiled by Nityanand Jayaraman, based on reports by Sterlite workers

Total: 3 dead; several injured in 8 incidents

Date	Incident	Number Dead/Injured
8.3.2013	Amalan, 30, sustained serious injuries after an electrical fire broke out at Motor Control Room of Phosphoric Acid Plant.	1 injured
18.3.2013	Swaminathan, 50, killed after falling into Phosphoric Acid tank. Due to the poor light conditions, the worker tripped on the scaffolding and fell 15 metres into an open and empty tank.	1 dead
23.3.2013	Massive gas leak, suspected to be Sulphur dioxide or trioxide, causes suffocation and panic around the Sterlite Copper plant. One Sterlite contract worker, Shailesh Mahadev, 35, reportedly succumbed to exposure to the gas.	1 dead; several injured
23.8.2011	One North Indian worker, sourced by labour contractor Lohit, and employed by Mahesh Engineering was injured while working in the Phosphoric Acid Plant. Workers, who said very little information was available about his condition and what actually happened. He is reported to have had 5 stitches.	1 injured
17.8.2011	A white gas (suspected to be Sulphur Dioxide) escaped for about 45 minutes at ground level throwing a scare among Sterlite workers, after a power outage caused a shutdown of the Copper smelter and sulphuric acid plant at around 10 a.m. today (17 August, 2011). The wind was blowing from East to West and carried the smoke away from the highway and the Milavittan village.
13.8.2011	Thangapandi, a 32-year old contract worker, engaged by OEG Ltd to work in Sterlite’s copper smelter factory sustained first degree burns due to an electrical accident. Thangapandi is a resident of Pandarampatti.	1 injured
31.5.2011	Amalanathan, a 28-year old crane maintenance mechanic, was electrocuted and killed in Vedanta-subsidiary Sterlite Copper’s premises today. According to workers, Amalanathan died on the spot at around 11.30 a.m. As of 3.30 p.m., the police had not yet registered a First Information Report. According to a Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) party worker, it was only after the communist unions and MDMK intervened by staging a road blockade did the Police even enter the scene. Amalanathan, who was married barely 3 months ago, is a resident of a locality called 3rd Mile, near Sterlite.	1 dead
3.3.2011	Ratheesh, a young contract employee from Sterlite, sustained 30 to 35 percent burn injuries on chest and hand. He was admitted to Apollo Hospital, Madurai, and underwent treatment until 24.3.2011. Inpatient Number: 205688. Referred by Dr. Vanitha Stephen, Tuticorin.	1 injured

Nityanand is a Chennai-based writer and environmental activist.

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News Update 12 noon: Anti-Sterlite Protestors Arrested en Mass in Thoothukudi

Reported by Nityanand Jayaraman

Speaking on phone from Chandra Mahal (a wedding hall) where more than 200 people are detained by the police, Fatima Babu — one of several organisers of the protest — said that the rally demanding Sterlite Copper’s closure was massively attended. At the time of her arrest at around 1145 a.m., at least 7 bus loads of people had been removed from the roads and taken to various locations for detention. The arrests were continuing as more and more people were joining the procession. According to Fatima Babu, by the time of her arrest, nearly 5000 people had gathered. Shops in Thoothukudi, including all vegetable markets, jewellery stores, provision and small stores, have downed their shutters responding to the call join to the strike demanding Sterlite’s closure. Lorry, autorickshaw, taxi and van drivers too stayed away from the roads in solidarity.

“I cannot estimate the number of people that are part of the strike, because there are people as far as I can see, and more are coming,” said Maharajan, a party worker with Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK). MDMK’s leader is one of the political figures who gave a call for the rally demanding closure of the copper smelter. The strike has representation from the Conch Coolie (Divers) Association, Anna Bus Stand Autorickshaw Drivers Welfare Association, All India Drivers Welfare Association, Tamilnadu Merchants Federation (led by Vellaiyan), and Anna Bus Stand Taxi drivers Association.

Green Clearance Watch

Centre for Science and Environment recently launched a public information system to track environmental and forest clearance of industrial and development projects in key sectors in India from 2007 till date: Greenclearancewatch.org 

Begin by going through “Facts about Environmental and Forest Clearances – 2007 & Beyond” which lays out some important statistics on the number of environmental clearances granted, the kind of developmental projects, the land and water requirement of these and so on.

Following the pressing need for increased transparency in the environmental and forest clearance regime in India, the GCW portal aims to be a one-stop resource base that can help communities access information and statistics, and participate in the decision making process.

A selection of public hearings for developmental projects have been release out in the public domain by GCW. They perceive this will help “develop a clear understanding of the community’s involvement in the decision-making process of a given industrial project.”

Information that can be obtained through GCW include:

• Facts about environmental clearances granted since April 2007 for major industrial sectors viz., Thermal Power Plant, Cement, Iron and Steel, Coal Mining, Bauxite Mining, Limestone Mining, Other Minerals, etc.
• Information on environmental clearances, that can be tracked by specific company name (the project proponent), industrial sector, state, district or village name.
• A main component on the GCW is the map, which gives a visual understanding of the spatial distribution of industries.

• Videos of public hearings that have been covered by CSE and partners.
• Information of upcoming public hearing that CSE (or the organization’s partners) plans to cover.
• Latest judgements of the National Green Tribunal.
• Major news updates and reports on environmental clearances, public hearing or related topics made available through their fortnightly magazine Down to Earth and their clearinghouse India Environment Portal.

The information that you see on GCW has been obtained from environmental clearances available on the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) website.

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In Defense of Difference

“That the Earth is becoming more homogeneous—less of a patchwork quilt and more of a melting pot—is only partly due to the extinction of regionally unique languages or life forms. The greater contributing factor is invasiveness. According to the 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment report, as rapidly as regionally unique species are dying out, rates of species introductions in most regions of the world actually far exceed current rates of extinction. Similarly, the spread of English, Spanish, and, to a lesser extent, Chinese, into all corners of the world easily dwarfs the rate of global language loss. This spread of opportunistic species and prodigal tongues thrives on today’s anthropogenic conduits of commerce and communications.

Bringing new organisms or new languages into a community nearly always results in an increase of global homogeneity. Its effect on diversity is, however, more complex, raising an important point about the very concept of diversity: It makes sense only as a matter of scale. If, for example, you introduce several weedy species to an African veldt, you will increase local biodiversity. Introduce English into a multidialect Alaskan community, and you will increase local linguistic diversity—you are, after all, just adding more to the mix. But gains in local diversity due to new introductions are likely to be short-lived. Just as languages often become overwhelmed by more dominant ones, invasive plants, animals, and microbes often eventually outcompete and replace native life. If even one native grass or one native dialect perishes as a result of these introductions—as is almost always the case—global biodiversity suffers. Thus, homogeneity, while not synonymous with extinction, reflects both extinctions in the past and ones likely to ensue.”

In Defense of Difference. Scientists offer new insight into what to protect of the world’s rapidly vanishing languages, cultures and species. Maywa Montenegro. Terry Glavin. Seed Magazine. 2008.

[http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/in_defense_of_difference/P1/]