It is not usual for newspapers to be partial in giving publicity to public sector units. This is on the ground that they are public funded entities and often function in public interest. However, should Government and the media be partial when it comes to the PSUs breaking laws of the land?
There are many
instances of such partisan treatment of PSUs
in Kerala and elsewhere in the country. For instance, the
Travancore
Titanium Products (TTP) in
Thiruvananthapuram has been polluting the Arabian Sea for years
now.
Though
even closure of the unit had been ordered on this count, the
Government
has
always come to its rescue. What the unit lets out into the sea
are
dilute
sulphuric acid, iron sulphate and other pollutants that render
the
inshore
areas a dead sea. The neighbouring English India Clays, which
caused
relatively
less pollution from mining of clay, faced sterner measures.
Though the media did report on the pollution caused by TTP once in a while, that never compared with the media barrage against Grasim Industries that polluted the Chaliyar River. (This is not to say that the Grasim issue did not merit the publicity. The issue warranted the attention it got from the media.)
In Kochi, the private company Merchem, manufacturing rubber
chemicals and pesticides, had to close down. However,
PSUs such as Hindusthan Insecticides, Fertilizers and Chemicals
Travancore and
Indian Rare Earths continued to pollute the environment. The
Periyar is
today
highly polluted with heavy metals and radioactive materials and
other
hazardous
chemicals. (The Supreme Court is now monitoring the situation.)
A more
pronounced case of media’s partiality
is that of the
Coca-Cola and Plantation Corporation of Kerala (PCK). The
Coca-Cola
unit at
Plachimada in Palakkad district polluted the land by allowing
sludge
containing
cadmium to be used as fertilizer in the locality. There are no
reports
yet of
serious direct injury. Yet the issue got international
attention. This
was partly on
account of its status as multi-national with presence in many
countries
rather
than the severity of pollution. On the other hand, the PCK,
which
poisoned land
and water by aerial spraying of the organochlorine insecticide
endosulfan for
25 years across 15 villages, got less media-space. The company
is
accused of
causing direct injury to hundreds of people. The Health
Department of
Kerala
has identified more than 3000 people in the villages with
various kinds
of
abnormalities and disease conditions known to be caused by
endosulfan.
(The
actual number of victims is much higher than this as problems
related
to the
reproductive system are under-reported). Yet, neither the
company nor
the
Government has attempted any clean up operations.
What is at stake here is the principle that
everybody is equal before the law even if it is a Government
company
and its
officials. At the same time, it cannot be forgotten that several
private companies,
who spent crores in advertising, manage to push their misdeeds
under
carpet using
their clout with media. Some PSUs like the public sector banks
too have
started taking a leaf out of the private sector -- all the more
a
reason
not to be partial to PSUs.
Expert-Eyes / December 2005 (No. of victims updated in 2011)
Related links:
Supreme Court Monitoring
Committee
on Hazardous Wastes
A
toxic hot spot in Kerala-- Frontline report on TTP
Closure
order
issued to Merchem
Panel
recommends
closure of HIL
Coca-Cola's
'toxic'
India fertilizer
Endosulfan--
the
Kerala Story download
(13MB)
Comment from Sridhar, Thanal.org
I am much reminded of the Hindustan
Newsprint Limited
factory at
Velloor as well, for their heavy pollution. Hundreds of acres of
land
have been contaminated with their sludge, possibly contaminated
with
dioxins, as they used to bleach with chlorine and chlorine
compounds.
Same is the case with KMML, which escapes attention due to their
better
public interactions and promotional activities in the locality. But HNL is a big case, because they produce newsprint much needed for the print media and media apathy towards news from this factory is stark and felt by the local population. Many people, whom I have talked to during my research, complained of lack of coverage of the issue.
The article is good, and raises a serious issue.
Sridhar <admin(at)thanal.org>
Comments last updated on December 2, 2005. Email address altered to prevent spam. Read (at) as @
