Hope on the horizon

Hope on the horizon

The writing is on the wall for the venom-spewing iron foundries located in the Taj Trapezium Zone (ttz) -- a 10,400 square kilometre belt that circles Taj Mahal and other heritage monuments in Agra. Because the Supreme Court (sc) is determined to see its 1996 order enforced, which makes it mandatory for these units to either switch over to eco-friendly fuels like natural gas or shift out of the area.

On September 30, 2001, it was business as usual for the 150-odd foundries, said to be among the main culprits who have robbed the Taj of its sheen. They had failed to meet another pollution-purging deadline set by the sc. Something they have been routinely doing on one pretext or the other over the past five years.Ironically the Uttar Pradesh (up) government, rather than ensuring implementation of the edict, has been conniving with the offenders.

Stung by the industries' proclivity to procrastinate, the apex court decided to get tough. In the subsequent hearing on October 3, 2001, though it gave polluting units time till December 31, 2001, to clean up their act, it took steps to shut off all escape routes:

• The industries were made to submit affidavits by October 10, 2001, pledging that they would either reform or relocate

• They also gave an undertaking to the sc that they would not approach the court again under any circumstances

• In addition to this, the Agra district administration was instructed to seal the premises of the defaulters

The history of the case can be traced back to 1984 when environmental lawyer M C Mehta filed a public interest litigation in the apex court, expressing concern over the havoc polluting units were wreaking on Taj Mahal. Twelve years later, the sc ordered 292 industries in the vicinity of the monument to either shape up or ship out.
Malady and remedy Agra's iron foundries, the glass factories of Ferozabad and the Mathura oil refinery were identified as the prime sources of pollution in the zone. These coke and furnace oil-based industries discharged sulphur dioxide (so2) and suspended particulate matter (spm). The constant flow of heavy vehicles and rampant use of diesel generators in Agra city sent emission levels spiralling further.

Exposed to a deadly cocktail of oxygen, moisture and so2, the Taj contracted 'marble cancer' -- a fungal growth that corroded its surface giving it a yellowish tinge. And spm deposits blackened it.

The use of coal as a fuel in the foundries and glass units was said to have done the most damage since its ash has a high sulphur content of 0.7 per cent. This translates into 260-300 kilogrammes (kg) of sulphur per tonne of coke, which upon burning turns into the corroding so2.

Only Agra's iron foundries continue to use conventional coke-based cupola furnaces. "They contribute heavily to spm levels around the Taj," says S R Sachan, regional officer, Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board. "The ambient air quality data at the Taj in the year 2000 shows that the annual average spm level is more than 400 microgrammes per metre cube (g/m 3) against the permissible limit of 70 g/m 3 ," he reveals.

What then is the solution?

In 1996, the sc ordered the use of natural gas (with negligible spm levels and very low so2 emissions) as an alternative fuel for furnaces. But there was a hitch. No viable technology was available for gas-based cupola furnaces inIndia.

"Earlier, the Union ministry of environment and forests set up the Vardharajan Committee to study the impact of pollution on the Taj. In 1995, the committee had assigned the task of developing a cost-effective coke-less cupola furnace technology to Jamshedpur-based National Metallurgical Laboratory (nml)," reveals K K Mishra, head, research management division, nml.

With a financial assistance of Rs 45 lakh from the Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council, an organisation under the department of science and technology in New Delhi, nml developed gas-based technology that enabled one tonne per hour production. Several trials were carried out by November 1997 and the results were encouraging (see box: The case for gas ). But clearly more needed to be done to upgrade the gas-based furnace to bring it on a par with its coke-based variant, which produces 2.5-3 tonnes of cast iron per hour on an average.

"The technology was then transferred to Tata Korf Engineering Services Limited (tkesl), a Jamshedpur-based private company, for commercial production," says P R Rao, vice-president, tkesl. In 1998, tkesl signed an agreement with the Agra Iron Founders' Association (aifa) and installed a gas-based demonstration furnace with two tonnes per hour production capacity in an Agra unit. "The initial teething troubles were were overcome after trials and adjustments," says Rao.

This year tkesl has increased the capacity of its existing furnace and installed another with a three tonnes per hour production capacity at one of the foundries in Agra. On October 18, 2001, a trial of the three-tonne version was conducted. "The test was very satisfactory. We reached the final stage of production in which grey cast iron is obtained," reveals Rao.

Legal wrangle
The glass units of Ferozabad were the first to fall in line with the apex court order, converting their furnaces from coal to natural gas. A few industries in Agra followed suit. The Mathura refinery, too, switched over from intermediate furnace oil to natural gas. "Earlier, it used to release almost 1,000 kg of so2 per hour. Its emission has now gone down to 500 kg per hour with the refinery aiming to reduce it further to 200 kg per hour," points out Sachan.

On August 30, 1999, the sc gave an ultimatum to the iron foundries to take gas connections by September 15, 1999. But just as gas-based technology was beginning to emerge as a viable option, the foundry owners of Agra put a spanner in the works. They contended that the trials conducted by the nml and tkesl had come a cropper. The state government backed them, filing a review petition on their behalf in 1999.

The sc was, however, not impressed and struck down their plea. It asked for a status report on gas-based furnaces in September 2000 and followed it up in November with a directive instructing at least 40 iron foundries to enter into a contract with tkesl to install gas-based furnaces. This time it set a deadline of September 30, 2001, which has been further extended to December 31, 2001. "The gas-based furnace developed by them has failed to work for us," says B B Agarwal, president, aifa, justifying the foundry owners' move. The temperature often does not reach desired levels in these furnaces and sometimes oxidation occurs, contends aifa. Another grievance it harbours is the high consumption of gas that leads to enhanced costs. To be sure, the initial apprehension of foundry owners was understandable. But their continued intransigence is being seen as an attempt to stall the implementation of the order, ostensibly in view of the investment it would entail.

A positive development is the slight change in their mindset. Rajesh Goyal, the secretary of the association, says: " tkesl was able to achieve some degree of success in the October 18 trials. This has raised our hopes a bit."

Clearing the decks
"We can make gas-based technology available for purchase within the next five months," says Rao. "The total cost of a three-tonne gas-based cupola furnace will be around Rs 40 lakh, including expenditure to be incurred by tkesl," he adds.

"The sc has fixed the prices at Rs 24 lakh for a two-tonne furnace and Rs 27 lakh for its three-tonne variant," claims the aifa secretary. "The Uttar Pradesh Financial Corporation has agreed to give us soft loans to buy the tkesl furnace," adds Goyal. The state government is also said to be considering giving them a subsidy of 25 per cent.

The foundries in Agra are unlikely to face a shortage of the green fuel. "We can start supplying gas tomorrow if they want us to," says S C Jain, additional general manager at the Agra office of Gas Authority of India Limited (gail).

The district administration, which has to ensure the polluting units' compliance with the sc directive, appears to have woken up from its slumber after a five-year hiatus. On October 11, 2001, the district magistrate of Agra ordered the sealing of 74 units that failed to submit an affidavit to the sc. But it remains to be seen whether the authorities display the same kind of zeal in implementing the court order in its entirety.

Because the foundation for the Taj's future will be laid on the firmness of their resolve.