THE DECISION of the HimachalPradesh governnment to set up fourLarge and 12 small cement plants inThe state has unleashed a controversypwite one Union ministerlVAmother and arousing protestsfonmentalists. ThoughLwiories are listed by theof environment andas a major polluter, itplGaoarat Ambuja Ltd's majorit in Darlaghat and iss looking favourably on ns for three more large S"ndarnagar, Chamba andArki and 12 smaller ones.
Union minister for planning and Non-convensional energy Sukh Ram wrote to his cabinet colleague, environment minister Kamal Nath urging Ambuja clearance be revoked because the cement plant would pollute the air,"A state like Himachal Pradesh must always depend on eco-friendly industries for revenue and employment."
Sukh Ram's ire was aroused when the BJP government was announced at the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the Gujarat Ambuja plant that more such units would be set up.The forest department objected to the notification on environmental grounds and local villagers prosted, fearing displacement.
Amid the euphoria when Kamal Nath laid the foundation stone of the Gujurat Ambuja plant, few noticed the unhappy residents ofDuaru village, who lost their land, tothe project. "We do not have anyland left," one of the villagersmoaned. "Our fields have disappeared and the road has come closeto our homes." The villagers maintain they did not give up land voluntarily, saying, "Dhamka ke hamsesign karaya gaya hai" (We signedunder duress). The few lakh rupeesin compensation has been reduced tosmall amounts after sharing amongall the claimants and the promisedland-for-land has not materialised. In Arki, residents have filed suit to block the pro posed cement factory of the Minerars and Metals Trading Corp (MMTC) contending it will destroy their forests and cause them immense been hardship.
Whether Sukh Ram'sapprehensions are justified should be answeredwithin the framework ofhow the state's twomajor cement plantsoperate. Both the CementCorp of India (CCI) factory at Rajban in Sirmur district andthe Gagal Associated Cement Co Ltd(ACC) unit in Bilaspur have come infor sharp criticism for failing to meetpollution standards.
But P K Kaku, deputy generalmanager of the ACC plant, contends,"We have geared all our efforts towork out a better environment management plan through systems designand systems improvement." Heexplained the anti-pollution devices- electrostatic precipitators (ESPs)that trap particulate matter in gasesand dust bags that collect dust insidethe factory - have been suitablymodified.
Even so, the chimneys at the ACCplant and at Rajban continue to belchdense clouds, which coat the surrounding vegetation with a thicklayer of white dust. Furthermore,ACC's claim that the emission levelat its plant is well below the set limitof 150 milligram (mg) suspended particulate matter (SPM) per cubic metreand will drop to 100 mg SPM percubic metre after complete plantupgrading, has not impressed thestate pollution control authorities.They say emission levels around the ACC factory this summer were 380mg SPM per cubic metre.
The company's defence in thismatter is that it cannot prevent theESPs from tripping because the coalused varies widely in ash contentand quality, making it difficult tomaintain thermal stability inside thekiln. And, CCI general manager M PSinha argued, "Foolproof technologythat can prevent tripping of the ESPdoes not exist in this country."
But S S Juneja, secretary of thestate pollution control board, insists"ESPs can be maintained at 99.5 percent efficiency, provided designquality is also maintained. In Europe,if the ESPs trip, which is rare, theentire production comes to a halt."
There have been complaints thatcement plants do not operate theirESPs so they can save on costs. ButACC general manager S C Sachdevsaid this was not so because the plantcan augment its revenue by recyclingdust trapped by the ESP. "If we donot operate our ESPs," he said,"about 10 per cent of our cement production will fly out and, at currentprices, this is valued at Rs 3 lakh aday." But to this, state pollution control board officials retorted, "Rawmaterials like limestone and clay areso cheap, they couldn't care lessabout recycling."
"Everybody focuses only on the factory chimney," pointed out ACCpersonnel manager Indrish Chandra."What is not noticed is the unregulated development that takes place oncea big project comes up and the auto and dust pollution that results fromthe plying of 2,000 or so trucks andother vehicles."
The victims of the pollution,however, have, a different tale to narrate. Villagers in the Rajban areacomplain that crops 'like chana andmasoor pulses have disappearedcompletely from their village. "Cropsshrivel up under the heavy coating ofcement dust," said panchayat mem-ber Harbhajan Singh. "Even our oldmango trees, which have a girth ofmore than six metres, have stoppedbearing fruit. Now, we have to buyfodder because our grass has driedup and cattle that earlier gave 10kilos of milk now barely give 2kilos," he added.
Scientists at the agricultural university at Dhaulakuan in Sirmur district say. dust layers on leaves prevents pod formation in gram and linseed. There is evidence also that saltrees near the Raiban CCI factoryhave been affected by dust and theincidence of respiratory illnesses hasincreased since the CCI began operations.
A question that some have raisedis whether mini-plants can substituteadequately for the large cement factories as the emission control technologies are either too expensive or notefficient enough. The 12 mini-plantsin Himachal Pradesh are almostwholly concentrated in Sirmurdistrict.Experts note thatuntil recently plantswith a 50-60 tonnecapacity did rfot haveappropriate technologysions. State pollutioncontrol board say small units wereemitting upto 1,500mg SPM per cubicmetre, well above thenorm of 400 mg SPMper cubic metre,which was revisedand lowered recentlyto 250 mg SPM percubic metre. Theproblem with miniplants is that the cost of ESPs is more than the total capital cost of the plant.
The conventional manufacturing technology used in mini-plants, known as Saboo VSK technology was thought to be energy efficient and it used pollution control methods such as wet (which suck up dust) and dust bag,for more efficient pollution control," Juneja noted.
Juneja's call poses a financing problem because mini-plants cannot spend much on pollution control.The onus therefore is on the cement industry to prove that their devices really do clean harmful emissions.