“Uddime bandare bhari bhari jille thumba ghori ghori,” (the more the heavy industries, the more the graves) says a slogan of a non-governmental organisation that has been opposing the setting up of petrochemical, chemical and coal-based industries in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts.
Nagarika Seva Trust (NST), Dakshina Kannada Parisarasakta Okkoota and other non-governmental organisations have all been contending that setting up of such industries might lead to disaster.
K. Somnath Nayak, president, NST, said that following the Bhopal gas tragedy, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests issued 17 guidelines, one of which says that industries that cause pollution should not be set up in a 25-km radius of any urban area. President of the okkoota Upendra A. Hosabettu said that heavy industries were slowly poisoning water bodies and the air and harming people's health. “Mass destruction or disaster need not occur on account of accidents in chemical plants. Effluents discharged into the water and the air are slowly putting marine life and people's health in danger,” he said.
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Deputy Commissioner V. Ponnuraj said that the Department of Factories and Boilers conducted periodic check-up of such industries before renewing their licences. “Onsite and offsite disaster management mechanisms put in place by those industries will tackle 80 to 90 per cent of any eventuality,” he said.Some “calculated risks” were involved in setting up chemical industries, he said.