WHY should it take a Bhopal gas tragedy or a Ranbaxy fire to remind us of the dangerous dimensions of the industrial age? The blasts at Ranbaxy resulting in about four casualties have brought to the forefront the same old issues that the authorities grappled with after the appalling Bhopal disaster. Many lives at Bhopal would have been saved had the Union Carbide management not been overconfident about its safety measures; had it kept ready a contingency disaster plan to put into operation and had the local medical authorities any knowledge about treating the victims.

Even decades later, we don’t seem to have learnt the lesson. As Ranbaxy casts a shadow on the state of industrial safety in the region, another cause for concern is that Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh still have no comprehensive crisis management plan in place to avert the danger of the Ranbaxy order. The region has about 185 industrial units using hazardous substances like chlorine, LPG, methanol and ammonia, which, if not safely handled, can cause irreversible damage to life and environment.

Many deaths have occurred; countless have gone unreported in industrial mishaps. In 1995, 25 persons were killed in an explosion in a factory at Rohtak; eight died when ammonia leaked in the NFL plant at Panipat in 1992. Incidentally, Punjab has a higher industrial accident rate (.60) as compared to Haryana (0.49). The national average is 11.2 workers per 1000 per year.

The danger is getting greater with hazardous units moving closer to human habitation. Punjab has many units in residential areas. Haryana has a dense habitation in Faridabad. Himachal has a cluster of "hazardous units" in Baddi and Parwanoo. Given this, a contingency disaster plan taking care of all known sources of dangers in factories is the need of the hour.

Although hazard control has been initiated by the labour departments under the Factories Act, 1948, which provides for industrial safety, the states have no operational hazard control plan as yet. It took Punjab four deaths at Ranbaxy (casualties had also occurred in 1992 and 1996) to tie up with the Disaster Management Institute (DMI), Bhopal, for off-site emergency plans. Haryana, Himachal are yet to wake up, while authorities in Chandigarh like to believe that the city has very few hazardous industries.

A survey reveals that many small units using unsafe procedures are operating in the region without consent of the industries department. These units neither have a proper hazard waste storage and disposal system nor do they maintain appropriate safety standards. Some units don’t even qualify as factories under the Factories Act, 1948, which considers units employing 10 or more workers as factories. Recently, a few persons died in a hosiery unit in Ludhiana that had employed less than 10 workers. Many committees have recommended that the Factories Act should cover the smallest of hazardous units, irrespective of the number employed.

Understaffing is a major problem. Factories Inspectorates don’t have enough manpower to efficiently monitor hazardous units. The situation is worsened by the meagre punitive measures that can be taken under law. There has not been a single imprisonment in any case of industrial-safety violation registered in Haryana recently. Paying little heed to the gravity involved, the matter ends at the penalty level.

STATE OF INDUSTRIAL SAFETY
PUNJAB

Punjab has not implemented the recommendations of the State Industrial Safety Committee, appointed in 1985 to review the situation in the wake of the Bhopal disaster. The committee, chaired by Dr Dharam Vir, the then Professor in Department of Chemical Engineering, Panjab University, had surveyed 9337 units and prepared a report on coping with chemical hazards. The committee, which had N.S. Tiwana, now chairman of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) as a member, in its report had observed:

"Unregistered factories completely escape notice, although the frequency rates of accidents in such factories may be more than the corresponding rates in the organised sector due to an almost total disregard for safety precautions" The Factories Act enlists 17 categories of industries using hazardous chemicals or involving hazardous processes. Such units must have on-site and off-site emergency plans in place and must conduct mock drills to ensure preparedness in case of hazards. As of now, Punjab has no major disaster control plan to tackle a crisis situation.

The Director (Factories), Punjab, also the Chief Factory Inspector, has identified 56 units as hazardous. These are located in Nawanshahr, Ropar, SAS Nagar, Patiala, Sangrur and Bathinda. However, this list is generally based on storage and use of LPG (26 units), chlorine (27) and ammonia (2). Experts feel that all major pharmaceutical and chemical industries pose a potential danger to society in case of an accident. Toansa in Nawanshahr has two bulk drug industries and one pesticide-manufacturing unit. Dera Bassi (Patiala district) has six bulk drug industries, besides a pesticide manufacturing unit. These drugs and chemical industries use highly inflammable and toxic chemicals and solvents, which require high safety standards.

The other most accident hazard (MAH) units like Punjab Alkalies and Chemicals, Naya Nangal; and Siel Chemical Complex, Rajpura; produce caustic soda using large quantities of chlorine gas. These units are considered dangerous. The Punjab Pesticides Industrial Corporation Society, Ropar, is one such pesticide unit, National Fertilizer at Nangal and Bathinda are fertiliser-manufacturing units handling large quantities of ammonia, while Sangrur has three major chemical units.

Although the Department of Factories conducts regular inspections, the same is not sufficient to ensure complete safety. While the chemical industry is increasingly finding base in Punjab, there is no proper equipment for monitoring leakages. Experts feel that the state, by now, should have had a crisis control room operational 24 hours a day (as in western countries). Also, the industries should have been conducting mock drills.

Studying the Bhopal tragedy, it was concluded that most of the local medical authorities were unaware of the nature of dangerous substances being used in the plant and were not aware of the treatment required for the same. Even today the doctors on emergency duties in civil hospitals in various districts of Punjab, Himachal and Haryana have little information about the toxic and hazardous chemicals being used by industries or about the way to handle such emergencies. They have not been trained to deal with such situations.

Very few units in Punjab are conducting mock drills for hazard preparedness. Although as notified by the Ministry of Environment, there is the Punjab Crisis Management Committee along with other such committees at the district level, these are still in their infancy. Constituted in 2000, the committee met for the first time in April, 2001. The next meeting was held a few days ago after the Ranbaxy blasts. Ideally, four meetings a year should be held.

As regards industrial accidents, Punjab’s average is 0.6 per 1000. Reported fatal accidents in industries are: 2000: (38 fatal; 350 non-fatal); 2001: (28 fatal, 274 non -fatal); 2002 (23 fatal, 177 non- fatal). The Labour Commissioner and Chief Inspector, Factories, Punjab, Jaspal Singh admits that although the maximum possible monitoring is being done, the industries manage to neglect safety norms. The department conducted 4333 inspections last year. As a result of this, there were 463 prosecutions and 143 convictions. Jaspal Singh says, "We recovered a penalty of over Rs 4 lakh." Incidentally, the Ranbaxy unit was also challaned last year.

Out of the total 11, 581 polluting industries in Punjab, 3,297 were operating with consent under the Water Act, and 4,397 were under the Air Act. Last year the Board closed down 89 units for violating pollution control norms. Incidentally, the board just has 250 members in its enforcement staff.

HARYANA

While the Factories Act requires one inspector for every 150 units, Haryana has just 11 factory inspectors for about 9000 registered units. Faced with the challenge of maintaining industrial safety, the government is getting strict with the factories not complying with the safety norms. Last year out of total 1158 inspections conducted, the Department prosecuted factories in 1029 cases. There were 520 convictions; the penalty recovered was over Rs 25 lakh. In 2001, there were 2689 inspections; 803 prosecutions; 808 convictions; 603 warnings; the penalty recovered was over Rs 35 lakh. Despite an active monitoring, industrial accident rate in Haryana is .49 per cent of the national average.

Haryana has 22 hazardous industries, requiring efficient safety installations to fight crisis. Bulk drug units are absent. The prominent MAH units include Indian Oil Refinery and NFL, Panipat; Paper mill in Yamunanagar and eight LPG bottling plants in the state.

The Labour Commissioner and Chief Inspector Factories, Haryana, K.K. Khandelwal says that the Industrial Safety and Health Directorate is taking special care to monitor hazardous operations. Haryana has even introduced safety awards for industries ensuring maximum safety standards. About 35 fatal accidents take place in Haryana every year. Haryana has a state-level crisis management group headed by the Chief Secretary but the same is not active. Not all MAH units have off-site emergency plans ready. Local crisis groups are not equipped to handle industrial disasters.

To prevent the pollution of the Yamuna, the Haryana Pollution Control Board (HPCB) has ensured that all industrial units with 5KL and more of discharge into the Yamuna install ETPs under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. To prevent the effect of air pollutants on public, the HPCB is shifting industry from residential areas to the industrial sectors. Recently, 200 units from Faridabad were shifted to the industrial area.

Haryana has 3605 polluting units under the Water Act and 81 units under the Air Act, 1981. There are 1060 hazardous waste generating units. Although not all units have been conducting regular mock drills to check disaster preparedness, NFL and Indian Oil Refinery, Panipat, conduct such drills frequently. H.S.Bains, Chairman, HPCB, however admits that small-scale industries are not very inclined to follow pollution control norms. The board ordered 955 closures last year, as against 634 this year and 320 in 2000. To ensure safe disposal of hazard waste, 32 acres have been earmarked in Faridabad.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

With virtually nothing in the name of crisis management, Himachal may find itself in trouble in case of an accident of a severe order. Out of 2000 units, there are 89 hazardous units in Himachal, major ones being cement-manufacturing plants, paper mills, bulk drug industries and leather units. Most units are located close to residential areas, increasing the gravity of the problem. Plus, there is no off-site plan for any district even on paper, nor does one hear of any state crisis management committee in Himachal. None of the officials in the Himachal Pradesh Pollution Control Board (HPPCB) and the Labour Department seems to have heard of such a committee.

Another problem is the gross understaffing because of which the Labour Department finds it increasingly difficult to conduct inspections of units involving hazardous processes. There are just about 26 labour inspectors. No wonder the number of inspections conducted is less, while the number of prosecutions is even lesser. In 2000, there were just 665 inspections and nine prosecutions. In 2001 there were 772 inspections and four prosecutions, while 2002 had 357 inspections and just five prosecutions under the Factories Act. Sources disclose that understaffing and lack of mobility hampers efficiency of the department which, despite being aware of the danger, can do little about disaster control. Incidentally, the Labour Department in Himachal just has one clerk. The Joint Labour Commissioner, Himachal, S.C. Awasthi, however, maintains that the department is ensuring safety standards.

Out of the 4000 units categorised under the Water Act, 14 are highly polluting. The main threat comes from the cement units operating in the Barmana and Rajbans areas. The already weak road network is being further destroyed by the numerous trucks these cement plants ply. A few larger plants are using millions of litres of drinking water from khuds and rivers in areas which have been experiencing acute water shortage.

The Member Secretary of the board, S.S. Negi, informs that the board has set up an automated air quality monitoring system at the cement unit in Barmana (Bilaspur). "We can now check the air quality any time of the day. Also the Cement Corporation of India unit in Rajbans has a manual air quality monitoring system installed. For hazard waste storage, we are helping industries dig up concrete lime pits in their compounds. Our priority now is municipal solid waste and biomedical waste."

Incidentally, the HPPCB has been tough with the violators. Last year it issued notices to 62 industries, and ordered 80 closures. Recently, it lodged criminal proceedings against Larsen and Tubro, which had the contract for the waste disposal dump in Shimla.

Two district hospitals in the state have been sued for improper treatment of municipal solid waste. The government has also asked hospitals which have more than 200 beds to install biomedical waste disposal sites or face action.