The Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum (VCWF) has demanded action also under the Factories Act against the owner of the Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) Phase-1 in the SIDCO Industrial Estate in Ranipet, where the concrete wall of the secure land fill (SLF) for sludge collapsed. It resulted in the gushing forth of the sludge, drowning 10 workers sleeping in an adjacent tannery on Saturday.
In might be recalled that it was on a writ petition by the VCWF (WP 914/91) that the Supreme Court had ordered the closure of 162 tanneries in Vellore district in its judgment dated September 8, 1995, and laid down the `Precautionary Principle’ and the `Polluter Pays Principle’ in what is considered as a landmark judgment in the Tamil Nadu Tannery Pollution Case on August 28, 1996.
P.S. Subrahmanian, honorary secretary of VCWF, said in a statement that in addition to the criminal prosecution to be launched against the owner of the CETP which caused the tragedy on Saturday, the State government should also initiate action against the owner under the stringent provisions of the Factories Act 1948 (Act 63 of 1948) with the amendments made to it by the government. “Leather tanning industry is included in the list of industries involving hazardous processes in the First Schedule of the Act. Under Section 41-B, the factory owner involved in the hazardous processes should disclose all information regarding the danger, including health hazards and the measures to overcome such hazards arising from the exposure to or handling of the materials or substances in the manufacture, transportation and storage of the hazardous substances, and other processes”. In the case of Saturday’s mishap, the Chief Inspector of Factories coming under the Act should disclose all the details regarding the information given by the CETP/tannery owner, and if not, why action was not taken against the owner, and whether the Chief Inspector and other officials had inspected the CETP and the tannery unit to find out the worthiness of storing the sludge discharged into the CETP by the member units linked to the plant., the forum pointed out.
The VCWF said though there was a crack in the SLF, no efforts were made to set it right and replace it by reconstructing the wall. The government should increase the compensation to the families of the deceased workers from Rs. 3 lakh to 10 lakh considering the young age of the deceased, it said. “Further, the amount sanctioned should be recovered from the tannery owner under the `Polluter Pays Principle’ and `Precautionary Principle’ which the Supreme Court had directed to be enforced and followed in all pollution and environment-related cases”, it stated.
Tanning industry included in the list of industries involving hazardous processes
Compensation to families should be raised from Rs. 3 lakh to Rs. 10 lakh
