KOZHIKODE, July 6: The expert committee appointed by the Kerala government to look into the impact of pollution caused by Grasim Industries Ltd at Mavoor feels that the basic problem is the indifference of the company management in minimising pollution.

Committee chairman B Sengupta of the Central Pollution Control Board, after a two-day visit to the most affected areas, told newsmen that the second meeting of the committee to be held on August 1 and 2 at Thiruvananthapuram would recommend practical and effective measures on the subject to the government.

George Joseph, head of the department of chemical engineering at the Engineering College, Thrissur, and one of the committee members, said, "though the company is running at half its capacity due to power cut, air pollution in the area caused by the company is a fact." He added that that the effluent treatment facilities needed improvement.

Another member, C Sadasivan Pillai, head of Community Medicine at the Calicut Medical college, pointed out that despite the fact that long-term exposure over the threshold level to hydrogen sulphide and other substances would cause cardio-pulmonary problems and even cancer, the Kerala State Pollution Control Board had not been regularly monitoring the quantity of the substance contained in the effluent.

A 1981 paper on the impact of the hazardous effluent on the health of the people in nearby areas had said that incidence of cancer was obvious there.

However, he said a concrete conclusion could be arrived at only after a comprehensive house-to-house survey in the areas. The committee opposed the way the factory was using outdated cholrine bleaching, which was said to lead to cancer and the poor recovery level of toxic gases. The sulphuric acid plant at the factory the lectrostatic precipitators in the lime plant had to be improved, the committee members said.

According to V S Narayana Swamy of the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, a complete performance evaluation of all the units in the factory and a comprehensive environmental impact study had to be carried out urgently. He observed that the company, located in a valley, posed a serious pollution threat as the pollutants were trapped among the nearby hills. Sen Gupta said that the company, without compromising on its profit part, could maintain a desired pollution level.

Part of the Aditya Birla Group, the company was set up in 1981. Though it has a pulp division with a capacity of 160 tonnes per day and a staple fibre division with a capacity of 50 tonnes per day, the company had not been able to run in full capacity due to power constraints and pollution related issues.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.