To
Shri T V Somanathan
Cabinet Secretary
Dear Shri Somanathan,
I refer to a news report which indicated that the Prime Minister (PM) had laid “the foundation stone for the bulk drug park project in Nakkapalli and highlighted that Andhra Pradesh was one of the three states in the country where such a park is being established. The Prime Minister emphasized that this park will provide excellent infrastructure for manufacturing and research, boosting investor enthusiasm and confidence while benefiting local pharma companies”.
The said report also indicated that the PM had inaugurated several other projects including a “Green Hydrogen Hub” involving an investment of more than Rs 2 Crores.
To the best of my understanding, none of the projects that the PM inaugurated have been statutorily cleared by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MEFCC).
Had those who advise the PM on such matters enquired locally about the so-called “benefits” from numerous bulk drug units presently functioning in and around Vizag and in the vicinity of Nakkapalli, they would have come to know the vast extent of toxic pollution such units have caused all around and the unsafe environment in which the workers in those units work. It is a misnomer to call such complexes “parks”!
The local bulk drug units have polluted water bodies and groundwater aquifers extensively, causing serious diseases among the people. As far as industrial safety is concerned, they are known to defy all globally accepted safety protocols, literally playing with workers’ lives. During the last five years, as a result of this, there have been 43 accidents and 91 fatalities, in addition to serious injuries suffered by workers. The fatalities over the last few decades run into hundreds.
Had those in the PMO cared to find out from the AP State Chief Secretary about industrial safety surrounding pharma units around Vizag and Nakkapalle, the latter would have informed them of a ghastly accident that took place in August, 2024 in Atchutapuram SEZ near Anakapalle, in which 17 workers’ lost their lives and several others suffered serious burn injuries. Chief Minister Shri Chandrababu Naidu promptly visited the site personally and consoled the affected families (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/vijayawada/andhra-factory-explosion-cm-chandrababu-naidu-visits-hospital-meets-injured-people/articleshow/112706015.cms)
Ironically, there were several other accidents that took place in these parts after the Atchutapuram tragedy, more fatalities taking place among workers.
My article on the potential risks associated with pharma units summarises the local people’sconcerns about the pharma industry. It can beaccessedat https://countercurrents.org/2022/12/india-the-pharmacy-of-the-world-should-not-the-pharma-industry-set-its-own-house-in-order/
People in the Vizag-Nakkapalli region would have appreciated, had the Prime Minister, instead, laid the foundation stone for a super-speciality hospital to treat patients suffering from pollution-related diseases in that area.
Perhaps since promoters of bulk drug units liberally fund political parties’ election expenditure, they are allowed to go scot free from any semblance of regulation. They are nonchalantly allowed to endanger the lives of their workers and the lives of the people living in the vicinity of their units.
The Environment (Protection) Act of 1986, based on democratic norms, stipulates that before undertaking such projects, the concerned agencies should subject the project and its impact to a meaningful public consultation, an objective environment impact appraisal based on the findings emerging from public consultation and a statutory clearance by the concerned authorities of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MEFCC). MEFCC has issued elaborate guidelines in that respect vide its Notification SO(E) 1533 dated 14-9-2006.
Irrespective of the statutory requirements, those who care for people’s welfare should make sure that a prior public consultation process takes place, as it is the local communities that have been at the receiving end of such projects in these parts and it is they who can articulate their concerns better than anyone else.Laying foundation stones, in preemption of statutory processes, betrays lack of consideration for respecting the rule of law, the foundation on which our democratic system rests. I wish someone senior in the PMO had cared to read the environment rules and advised the PM on the implications of accepting an invitation to inaugurate such unapproved and potentially unsafe projects.
If at all MEFCC, based on an objective appraisal of the bulk drug park chooses to disapprove it at a later date, would it not result in the foundation stone laid now for the project causing embarrassment to all those involved? Or, is laying the foundation stone meant to give a clear signal to concerned regulatory authorities to cut corners and clear the project?
I recall my own experience as Union Power Secretary more than two decades ago, when the then Prime Minister (Shri H. D. Deve Gowda) received an invitation to inaugurate an unapproved hydro-electric project in one of the Himalayan States. His Principal Secretary, Shri T R Satishchandran, known for his integrity and respect for law, telephoned me for my view on it. When I explained that such an inauguration would preempt the statutory process that is mandatory, he advised the PM not to accept the invitation. Shri Deve Gowda, who valued Shri Satishchandran’s inputs and equally cared for respecting the rule of law, politely declined to inaugurate the project!
I suppose that in the vastly changed environment of today, such respect for the rule of law and people’s welfare is difficult to find!
What distresses me more is that senior civil servants, expected to stand committed to the rule of law, should feel hesitant to render appropriate advice to the political executive, in their anxiety not to upset their cosy but questionable relationship with their political masters.
I hope better sense will prevail among civil servants in senior positions, when such situations come up in the future!
Yours sincerely,
E A S Sarma
Former Secretary to the Government of India
Visakhapatnam
