TO Shri Pranab Mukherjee, President Of India “We do not inherit the planet from our ancestors but borrow it from our children” American Proverb Dear sir Kathikudam, in the Trichur District of Kerala is a sleepy little agricultural village, seldom heard outside the district boundaries at least till recently. Today, the name Kathikudam, is slowly but surely more and more throughout Kerala. Just as Union Carbide made Bhopal internationally famous, a small Japanese – Indian joint venture company called Nitta Gelatin India Ltd (NGIL) is in the process of making Kathikudam known throughout Kerala and even outside the state, albeit for the wrong reasons – slow and gradual pollution of soil, air and water in the vicinity of the factory. Originally christened as Kerala Chemicals and Proteins Ltd (KCPL) the company started operation in 1979. The local population had by and large welcomed the setting up of the factory in view of their belief that it would provide employment to many unemployed youth and the mistaken notion that industrialization and urbanisation are synonymous with development. The factory was set up primarily to manufacture Ossein from animal bones. Ossein is the prime raw material required for the manufacture of gelatin which is greately in demand. The major bi-products of the factory is di-calcium phosphate. Today, the factory works 24 hours and consumes 120 tonnes of animal bones and 1,20,000 litres of hydrochloric acid. Further as per official figures the factory also consumes 62,90,200 litres of water everyday, pumped directly from the Chalakudy river. However, according to informed sources, the water consumption of the company is three times more! The village people are facing huge health impacts on their lives. During the past 14 years more than 60 people have died of cancer. Asthma, Bronchitis and skin diseases are spreading in the area Recently due to polluted water from the company which have pumped in to Chalakudi river have died lakhs of fishes.Acoocrding to wikipedia “ The Chalakudy River is known for its diversity, as it contains 98 species of fresh water fishesout of the 152 species known from Kerala. Among these, 35 are endemic species of the Western Ghats and 31 are either vulnerable (11 species), endangered(16 species) or critically endangered (4 species) from indiscriminate collection for the aquarium fish trade, overfishing, pollution, dams and introduced species. According to a report of the National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources in Lucknow, Chalakudy could well be the richest river in fish diversity in India, with thick vegetation on both sides. Among the fish species in the river, the most species rich family are the Cyprinids, followed by Bagrid catfishes and hillstream loaches” I humbly request to you to take necessary action against this issue. As a human being we have right to use unpolluted air and water. We have to spare unpolluted ecosystem for our upcoming generation. Once again I have request to you to take action against this issue and save our village and chalakudi river. Sincerely Abdul Manaf Muttungal House,Annamanada Thrissur Mob – 9744220769 e-mail : manaf4u@gmail
Posted on: Mon, 10 Jun 2013 10:03:33 +0000
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