| BONGAIGAON | ||
March 17: Two villages in Bongaigaon are in desperate need of an Erin Brockovich. Like the American legal clerk who fought against a gas giant that was causing chromium contamination in a California suburb, Bhaolaguri and Dalaigaon need a crusader who can save them from the air and water pollution caused by Brahmaputra Carbon Limited and Bongaigaon Refinery and Petro-chemicals Limited (BRPL). Fifty thousand people living in the two villages are now breathing heavily polluted air, thanks to emissions from the Brahmaputra Carbon Limited. Factory waste from BRPL flows into the Tuniya rivulet, which is a source of sustenance for both villages. “Thousands are forced to use this river water for bathing and washing clothes. Unfortunately, the river does not even have a strong enough current to flush out the pollutants released by the Brahmaputra Carbon Limited and BRPL,” said a member of the Daligaon gaon panchayat, Sujit Dutta. Carbon dust released by the Brahmaputra Carbon Limited are contaminating the river water, Dutta said, resenting the government’s silence over pollution problems. So poisoned is the river that even herbs and shrubs have stopped growing along the river, said another member of Daligaon gaon panchayat, Sushanta Sutradhar. “Most of the residents of these villages suffer from respiratory trouble and have developed dermatological problems. If this pollution is not controlled soon, it will be difficult surviving in this area,” Sutradhar said. The president of Dalaigaon gaon panchayat, Gajendra Narayan Choudhury, said people have been fighting with the authorities responsible for releasing pollutant materials in air and water. They have formed the Dalaigaon Development Committee, including Daligaon Mahila Samiti and Parivesh Surakha Samiti, to voice their concern over pollution for the past four years. “Despite submission of several memoranda to the authorities concerned, including the Bongaigaon office of Pollution Control Board, Assam, and also to a number of deputy commissioners of the district, no action nor any measure have been taken,” Choudhury alleged. “We are now planning to knock on Gauhati High Court’s door by filing a PIL. Neither the district administration, nor the offenders are lending an ear to our problems. We cannot allow this to happen for long, since this pollution is causing serious health problems,” Choudhury added. The officials of regional laboratory-cum-office of Pollution Control Board, Bongaigaon, declined to comment on the issue. |
Factories breathe poison into villages
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Sinlung
