Skip to main content

Gujarat tops India with 49 percent use in hazardous asbestos, causing occupational disease, cancer: Report

Asbestos textile cuttings in a Vadodara shop
Counterview Desk
A new report “National Asbestos Profile: India”, prepared by Vadodara-based civil rights organization, People’s Training and Research Centre (PTRC), has found that Gujarat accounts for 49% of all industries of India where asbestos, considered one of the most hazardous commodities, is used, followed by neighbouring Maharashtra (18%).
Prepared for the Occupational and Environmental Health Network India, the report quotes a study conducted in a cement factory in Gujarat to say that 6.5% of examined workers had asbestosis, the fatal occupational health disease caused by asbestos, while another 32% of workers were “suspected” to have asbestosis.
The report further quotes a study, “Asbestos-related Diseases in India”, carried out by Dr Sudhakar Kamat, to say that out of chest radiographs taken from workers of different asbestos-cement plants and asbestos mines, examined by Dr Sudhakar Kamat, 44% were found to have asbestosis in Gujarat.
An all-India study, it also found that 22% of the workers examined in Tamil Nadu, and 77% of those examined in Rajasthan had asbestosis, says the report.
The report quotes a right to information (RTI) plea filed by Raghunath Manwar, a worker who suffered from the disease, to say that “across three thermal power plant stations in Gujarat, 17 out of 19 workers diagnosed with asbestosis worked in the cleaning cell” of power plants, while “the remaining two worked in the coal plant and fly-ash sections.”
“On and average workers with asbestos suffered from 41% to 50% disability”, the report reveals, adding, “Out of the 19 asbestosis patients identified, seven were women, from the Gandhinagar Gujarat Electricity Board power station.”
Giving more details on Gujarat, the report states, “In the ship-breaking yards of Alang, a study by the National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH) found, in a sample of 98 workers, 16% were diagnosed with asbestosis”, though regretting, “activists sought more details on the study but NIOH refused to reveal details.”
Pointing out that mesothelioma, a cancer of the protective tissue lining the lungs and abdominal cavity, is caused because of asbestos exposure, the report says, though the disease “is considered to be rare” and is in existence in 21 cases during 2009-2012 by the Gujarat Cancer Research Institute, Ahmedabad, and in 23 cases in 2013.
The report says, a conference in the US was told that there was “30% prevalence rate of mesothelioma in northern Gujarat and 32.75% prevalence in southern Rajasthan” because of asbestos exposure, though in “other parts of Gujarat, the prevalence rate was much lower, at around 9%.”
“In March 2017”, the report says, “three mesothelioma victims were diagnosed by the state-run Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) Hospital in Ahmedabad.” While one of them had “secondary exposure” in cement factory, the second one was employed by a foundry in the same factory, and the third one “suffer from tongue and larynx cancer.”
Pointing towards how commonly asbestos is used in Gujarat, the report provides the photograph of asbestos textile cuttings in a mezzanine floor constructed in a shop, which "manufactures and sells" asbestos gloves and other safety equipment, right in the heart of the Gujarati city of Vadodara.

Comments

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Invincible, Modi 'taller' than BJP, RSS: An opportunity for Congress beyond 2024?

By NS Venkataraman*  With the announcement of poll schedule for the 2024 parliamentary election, there is palpable excitement and expectation amongst the countrymen  about the shape of things to happen in India after the  results of the election would be announced. There is also speculation abroad about the future course of developments in India.