Indescribable fear grips onlookers standing before the vast grey heap extending as far as the eye can see. Looming ominously, intimidating not only by its size, but also by its obstinate refusal to allow even a blade of grass to grow on it, the manmade hillock at Damaracherla village of Nalgonda district has one more dread-inducing factor. Hidden behind the enormous pile is a canal made of concrete in which flows greenish yellow fluid, scarcely arrested by a temporary bund of stones.
“It is chromate, leaching with rain water from this pile of hazardous waste. It flows downstream into Bugga Vagu, which is a tributary of the Musi river, to finally reach the Krishna river,” explains Vennepally Panduranga Rao, a citizen activist from the area.
A dilapidated granite tablet indicating ‘Deccan Chromates Limited’ ahead of the heap of chemical waste stands as mute spectator to the devastation caused by the factory over 10 years ago.
Sodium dichromate, a compound used in chromium plating, leather tanning, and several other enterprises, was being produced here by the unit in its heyday. Years of trenchant protests and complaints from the surrounding villages led to its closure in 2012.
“We initially approached the industry in 2009 with concerns about local people not being recruited, and the existing workers being removed from jobs. Upon probing, we got to know horrific details about the effects of the production process on workers,” Mr.Panduranga Rao said, recalling the context for the protests.
Movva Rama Rao, a surgeon with years of practice in Miryalaguda, vouched for the havoc that the hexavalent chromium fumes had wreaked on workers’ health. The workers were not given masks or protective gear, due to which the inhalation of fumes destroyed the mucosal lining of the nose.
“Eventually, it damaged the septum, resulting in nose bleeds and holes in the nose bridge. Worst was the destruction of mucosal lining all along the respiratory tract, which made it susceptible to bacterial attacks, leading to tuberculosis,” Dr. Rama Rao said.
Chromate pollution extended to all the water sources in the region, making groundwater extremely unsafe. “Even the farm produce here is dangerous to consume. It could be riddled with carcinogenic substances,” he said.
The mountain of hazardous waste. | Photo Credit: Nagara Gopal
Notwithstanding the threat, for the last 10 years, about 70,000 tonnes of chromite waste (becomes chromate with open weathering) lay in the 10-acre dump of the factory, with no action from any quarters. After a criminal case in Miryalaguda Sessions Court, and the direction to shift the dump, the owner of the company is now “absconding”. Lookout notices have been issued, say officials from Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB), who continue to take regular samples from the dump, the leachate canal, the Bugga Vagu and the soil, for analysis.
While keeping the reports confidential, the officials, under the condition of anonymity, admit that chromate continues to remain high in the water whenever it rains. Groundwater samples are not being tested by them reportedly for want of bore-wells to collect them.
“I am cautioned not to take my flock towards the dump. They say, several cattle died a decade ago after consuming the water. Some people unknowingly took the soil for raising plants, but the plants died,” said Sandrala Srinu, a shepherd roaming the area.
Dasari Kalyan, a local farmer, concurs, and says farmers owing lands abutting the site have stopped cultivating them.
Residents of Wadapally village fear the establishment of a proposed chemical factory very close to the Krishna river in the district, which might lead to further pollution. | Photo Credit: Nagara Gopal
While the issue festers for the past 10 years, inhabitants of nearby villages Wadapally and Irkigudem, Damaracherla mandal, have something new to worry about — yet another chemical factory proposed at Wadapally, a famous pilgrimage site, to manufacture sodium saccharin, an artificial sweetener, and — as mentioned in the Environmental Impact Assessment report submitted to the TSPCB — sodium dichromate and basic chromium sulphate as its “byproducts”.
Going by the production process mentioned in the EIA report, the sodium dichromate is not a byproduct, but one of the raw materials used in the process to obtain Sodium saccharin. Chrome ore is sourced from mines and processed on the site to produce sodium dichromate which would then be used for producing saccharin. The remaining chrome ore process residue will be treated and made fit as landfill, says the report.
Baburao Kalapala, a retired scientist form the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), swears that about 15-20% of the chrome ore remains unleached as part of the process, which when reacting with the elements, keeps producing chromate.
“Chromate contains hexavalent chromium, which is highly dangerous to life. It has to be treated properly before being made a landfill. The owner of Deccan Chromates Limited abandoned the facility because transportation of the waste to the treatment facility, as agreed by him initially, would have incurred heavy costs,” Dr. Kalapala said.
Chemical concentration
Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) is carried out to test the chemical concentration in the residue, which should be less than 50 micrograms per litre as per the hazardous waste management norms in India. In USA, it is 10 mcg, says Dr.Kalapala. In a large number of European countries, production of sodium dichromate is banned.
The factory sought to be set up by the Krishna Godavari Power Utilities Limited (KGPUL), if approved, would produce 50,000 tonnes per annum of sodium dichromate, which is close to 10 times of what the ill-famed Deccan Chromates produced, and 1,00,000 tonnes per annum of basic chromium sulphate, apart from white sodium sulphate. Though the company undertakes to treat the hazardous waste, local people as well as activists find it hard to believe.
Proliferation of industries in Damaracherla mandal of Nalgonda district has impacted the environment and wildlife in the area. | Photo Credit: Nagara Gopal
They suspect that the waste may be dumped somewhere in the Krishna river under the cloak of darkness, and nobody would notice, least of all the TSPCB. The fact that the project is very close to Krishna river adds to their fears.
“After construction of Pulichintala project, the water level has risen, which brings the site as close as 50-250 metres to the river. There is every chance for the chemical waste to leach into the river,” says Bala Saidulu, district member of Vyavasaya Karmika Sangham.
Wadapally village panchayat has passed a resolution through the gram sabha to oppose the chemical factory tooth and nail. They reportedly submitted representations to the district collector, TSPCB, chairperson of the Legislative Council Gutta Sukhender Reddy and legislator N.Bhaskar Rao.
People from another village, Irkigudem, are also vowing to fight the factory tooth and nail, but no resolution or representation has been made so far.
The company also proposed to set up a ferro alloys and steel complex with a captive power plant, about which the villagers have least concerns.
“We have no objection to the other two units. But the site of the chemical factory is very close to our village, though its coordinates fall into the revenue village of Wadapally. We will be the worst affected in case there is pollution from the hazardous waste,” says K.Koteshwara Rao, a resident of Irkigudem.
Public hearings for both the units were announced recently, but had to be postponed indefinitely owing to the election notification for Munugode constituency. Attempts by this correspondent to reach the KGPUL through e-mail had not succeeded till the time of going to press.
