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SEZs
inhabitants
·
On May 30,
2008
an RTI
revealed
that in its
report the
Nagpur-based
National
Environmental
Engineering
Research
Institute
(NEERI) for
the Tamil
Nadu
Pollution
Control
Board (TNPCB)
had said
that people
living in
and around
SEZs are
“2,000 times
more” likely
to be
affected by
cancer than
normal
population
·
It came to
light only
after an RTI
plea by the
local
environment
watchdog,
Community
Environment
Monitoring (CEM).
·
In a normal
sample
population,
one person
in a million
is affected
with cancer,
but in and
around the
State
Industries
Promotion
Corporation
of Tamil
Nadu (SIPCOT)
Industrial
Park,
nearly 300
km south of
the state
capital, two
in every
thousand are
likely to
have cancer
·
The study
confirms the
decades-old
complaints
by local
residents
that
pollution
from the
chemical
factories in
the park is
worst at
night.
·
The NEERI
submitted
the report
in August
2007 to the
board
without any
public
information.
·
The TNPCB
commissioned
the NEERI
study in
response to
a 2004
report “Gas
Trouble”,
released by
SIPCOT area
community
environmental
monitors.
The study
mandated
special
reference to
volatile
organic
compounds so
that the
state
government
could take
remedial
action.
·
Several
studies of
air
pollution
around the
SIPCOT
Industrial
Park found
94 chemicals
in the
ambient air.
·
In
September
2004, the
Supreme
Court
monitoring
committee
on hazardous
wastes
directed the
TNPCB to
bring down
pollution
levels or
shut errant
industries
in the
SIPCOT
within three
months.
However,
nothing was
done.
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