Whistle-blowing

Whistle-blowing

"whistleblowers" are individuals who witness an illegal and improper acts and inform it to the public. This is done with a view to have the witnessed act stopped, sanctioned and rectified. One should grant whistleblowers their anonymity in public interest.

As per the Press Release issued by Central Vigilance Commission, the Government of India has authorized the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) as the ‘Designated Agency’ to receive written complaints for disclosure on any allegation of corruption or misuse of office and recommend appropriate action.

The jurisdiction of the Commission in this regard would be restricted to any employee of the Central Government or of any corporation established by or under any Central Act, government companies, societies or local authorities owned or controlled by the Central Government. Personnel employed by the State
Governments and activities of the State Governments or its Corporations etc. will not come under the purview of the Commission.

In this regard, the Commission, which will accept such complaints, has the responsibility of keeping the identity of the complainant secret. Hence, it is informed to the general public that any complaint, which is to be made under this resolution should comply with the following aspects.

i) The complaint should be in a closed / secured envelope.
ii) The envelope should be addressed to Secretary, Central Vigilance Commission and should be superscribed “Complaint under The Public Interest Disclosure”. If the envelope is not superscribed and closed, it will not be possible for the Commission to protect the complainant under the above resolution and the complaint will be dealt with as per the normal complaint policy of the
Commission. The complainant should give his/her name and address in the beginning or end of complaint or in an attached letter.
iii) Commission will not entertain anonymous/pseudonymous complaints.
iv) The text of the complaint should be carefully drafted so as not to give any details or clue as to his/her identity. However, the details of the complaint should be specific and verifiable.
v) In order to protect identity of the person, the Commission will not issue any acknowledgement and the whistle-blowers are advised not to enter into any further correspondence with the Commission in their own interest. The Commission assures that, subject to the facts of the case being verifiable,
it will take the necessary action, as provided under the Government of India Resolution mentioned above. If any further clarification is required, the Commission will get in touch with the complainant.

The Commission can also take action against complainants making motivated/vexatious complaints under this Resolution.

A copy of detailed notification is available on the web-site of the Commission http://www.cvc.ni

The government of India has also drafted a Public Interest Disclosure and Protection of Informers' Bill 2002.

Until the entry into force of this Bill, the Central Government of India, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, has enacted Resolution No. 89 on 21 April 2004 (given below). This resolution grants a protection mechanism similar to the one foreseen by the Public Interest Disclosure and Protection of Informers' Bill 2002.

The Central Vigilance Commission has been designated to handle complaints submitted under the Resolution (Office Order No. 33/5/2004). (given below)

If my memory serves me right, the Bill has not become an Act so far, if it has happened, please let me know.


Government of India Resolution No. 89, Gazette of India Part I Section I

MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS

(Department of Personnel and Training)

RESOLUTION

New Delhi, the 21st April, 2004 [as corrected by the corrigendum of 29th April 2004]

No. 371/12/2002-AVD-III.—Whereas while hearing Writ Petition (C) No. 539/2003 regarding the murder of Shri
Satyendra Dubey, the question of a suitable machinery for acting on complaints from “whistle-blowers” arose.
And whereas the ‘The Public Interest Disclosure and Protection of Informers’ Bill, 2002, drafted by the Law
Commission is under examination.

Now, therefore, the Central Government hereby resolves as under:

1. The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) is hereby authorized, as the Designated Agency to receive written
complaints or disclosure on any allegation of corruption or of mis-use of office by any employee of the Central
Government or of any corporation established by or under any Central Act, Government companies, societies or
local authorities owned or controlled by the Central Government The disclosure or complaint shall contain as full
particulars as possible and shall be accompanied by supporting documents or other material.

2. The designated agency may, if it deems fit call for further information or particulars from the persons making the
disclosure. If the complaint is anonymous, the designated agency shall not take any action in the matter.

3. Not anything contained in the Official Secrets Aft, 1923, any public servant other than those referred to clauses (a) to (d) of Article 33 of the Constitution or any other person including any non-governmental organisation, may
make a written disclosure to the designated agency.

4. If the complaint is accompanied by particulars of the person making the complaint, the designated agency shall take the following steps:
(i) The designated agency will ascertain from the complainant whether he was the person who made the
complaint or not.
(ii) The identity of the complainant will not be revealed unless the complainant himself has made the details of
the complaint either public or disclosed his identity to any other office or authority.
(iii) After concealing the identity of the complainant, the designated agency shall make, in the first instance,
discreet inquiries to ascertain if there is any basis of proceeding further with the complaint. For this purpose,
the designated agency shall devise an appropriate machinery
(iv) Either as a result of the discreet inquiry, or on the basis of the complaint itself without any inquiry if the
designated agency is of the opinion that the matter requires to be investigated further, the designated agency
shall officially seek comments/or explanation from the Head of the Department of the concerned
organisation or office. While doing so, the designated agency shall not disclose the identity of the informant
and also shall request the concerned Head of the organisation to keep the identity of the informant secret, if
for any reason, the concerned Head comes to know the identity.
(v) After obtaining the response of the concerned organisation, if the designated agency is of the opinion that
the reveal either mis-use of office or substantiate allegations of corruption, the designated agency shall
recommend appropriate action to the concerned Government Department or Organization. These shall,
inter alia, include following:
(a) Appropriate proceedings to be initiated against the concerned Government servant.
(b) Appropriate administrative steps for redressing the loss caused to the Government as a result of
the corrupt act or mis-use of office, as the case maybe.
(c) Recommend to the appropriate authority/agency initiation of criminal proceedings in suitable
cases if warranted by the facts and circumstances of the case.
(d) Recommend taking of corrective measures to prevent recurrence of such events in future.

5. For the purpose of making discreet inquiry or obtaining information from the concerned organisation, the
designated agency shrill be authorized to call upon the CBI or the police authorities, as considered necessary, to
render all assistance to complete the investigation pursuant to the complaint received.

6. If any person is aggrieved by any action on the ground that he is being victimized due to the fact that he had filed a complaint or disclosure, he may file an application before the designated agency seeking redress in the matter, who shall take such action, as deemed fit. The designated agency may give suitable directions to the concerned public servant or the public authority as the case may be.

7. Either on the application of the complainant; or on the basis of the information gathered, if the designated agency is of the opinion that either the complainant or the witnesses need protection, the designated agency shall issue appropriate directions to the concerned Government authorities.

8. The machinery evolved herein shall be in addition to the existing mechanisms in place. However, secrecy of identity shall be observed, only if the complaint is received under this machinery,

9. In case the designated agency finds the complaint to be motivated or vexatious, the designated agency shall be at liberty to take appropriate steps.

10. The designated agency shall not entertain or inquire into any disclosure:
(a) in respect of which a formal and public inquiry has been ordered under the Public Servants Inquiries 1850;
or
(b) in respect of a matter which has been referred for inquiry under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952.

11. In the event of the identity of the informant being disclosed in spite of the designated agency’s directions to the
contrary, the designated agency is authorized to initiate appropriate action as per extant regulations against the
person or agency making such disclosure.

12. The machinery created herein shall operate till Parliament passes a law on the subject.

SMT. MANJULIKA GAUTAM, Addl. Sec




No.004/VGL/26
Government of India
Central Vigilance Commission
*****
Satarkta Bhawan, Block ‘A’,
GPO Complex, INA,
New Delhi- 110 023
Dated the 17th May, 2004


Office Order No. 33/5/2004

Subject:- Govt. of India Resolution on Public Interest Disclosures & Protection of Informer.

The Government of India has authorised the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) as the ‘Designated Agency’ to receive written complaints for disclosure on any allegation of corruption or misuse of office and recommend
appropriate action.

2. A copy of the Public Notice issued by the Central Vigilance Commission with respect to the above mentioned Resolution is enclosed. All CVOs are further required to take the following actions with respect to the complaints
forwarded by the Commission under this Resolution:
(i) All the relevant papers/documents with respect to the matter raised in the complaint should be obtained by the CVO and investigation into the complaint should be commenced immediately. The investigation report should be submitted to the Commission within two weeks.
(ii) The CVO is to ensure that no punitive action is taken by any concerned Administrative authority against any person on perceived reasons/suspicion of being “whistle blower.”
(iii) Subsequent to the receipt of Commission’s directions to undertake any disciplinary action based on such complaints, the CVO has to follow up and confirm compliance of further action by the DA and keep the Commission informed of delay, if any.
(iv) Contents of this order may be brought to the notice of Secy./CEO/CMD.

All CVOs may note the above directions for compliance.

Sd/-
(Sujit Banerjee)
Secretary

To
All Chief Vigilance Officers

Eggs have Dioxins

A recent study that examined eggs in 20 countries across five continents reveals that Indian chicken egg samples carry the most poisonous chemical known to mankind - dioxins.

Indian chicken egg samples were found to contain five and a half times the amount of dioxin permitted by the European Union. In addition, samples exceeded the proposed limits for PCBs by 4.7-fold. The toxic elements have been found in samples from all countries, clearly pointing to the global nature of the problem. When compared to other countries, the Indian samples were found to have almost five times the amount of dioxins than that found in egg samples from Belarus (Bolshoy Trostenec dumpsite) and Czech Republic (near chemical plant) and almost two-fold higher than those observed in samples from Slovakia (near a municipal waste incinerator). The dioxin levels were slightly low in comparison to those found in eggs collected at the Dandora dumpsite in Kenya. Results from other countries shall be released soon.

Consuming as low as 0.006 pictogram of dioxin (one trillionth part of a gram) per kg of body weight per day can be extremely harmful. Going by the amount of dioxin found in the egg samples (19.8pg/g), an adult weighing 60 kg would ingest 0.0006 g of dioxin/day if he ate two eggs.

That amounts to 0.018g/month and 0.216g/year. This amount keeps on accumulating each year through repeated exposure.

The data was released in India as part of the worldwide campaign “Keep The Promise, Eliminate POPs” initiated by the International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN). The egg samples were collected from near the Queen Mary’s Hospital medical waste incinerator in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. They were tested in Czech laboratories for the levels of contamination with hazardous toxic chemicals.

The aim of the study was to explore whether free-range chicken eggs might contain unintentional POPs (U-POPs) if collected near potential sources. The neighbourhood of the Queen Mary's Hospital, Lucknow medical waste incinerator in Uttar Pradesh was selected as a sampling site since medical waste incinerators are known to produce dioxins and furans as well as hexachlorobenzene and PCBs.

Chicken eggs were chosen for several reasons: they are a common food item; their fat content makes them appropriate for monitoring chemicals such as POPs that dissolve in fat; and eggs are a powerful symbol of new life. Free-range hens can easily access and eat soil animals and therefore their eggs are a good tool for biomonitoring of environmental contamination by U-POPs.

Although this study represents the first data about POPs in chicken eggs from India, evidence of dioxin finding its way into the food chain is not new. Previous similar studies have also found high levels of dioxin in butter, fish and breast milk in the country.

According to a study by Senthil Kumar et.al (Yokohoma, Japan) in 2001 in which the levels of dioxins were analysed in tissues of human, fishes, chicken, lamb, goat, predatory birds, Ganges river dolphins collected from various locations around the country, dioxin levels in human tissues ranged from 170 to 1300 pg/g , which is capable of causing adverse health effects.

Health Effects
These findings are a cause for concern as dioxins are the most potent toxic chemicals ever studied. Dioxin is known to cause serious health problems, even in small doses. It acts as a powerful hormone disrupting chemical and literally modifies the functioning and genetic mechanism of the cell, causing a wide range of effects, from cancer to reduced immunity to nervous system disorders to miscarriages and birth deformity. The effects can be very obvious such as in chloracne or very subtle. Because it changes gene functions, it can cause so-called genetic diseases to appear, and can interfere with child development. There is no "threshold" dose - the tiniest amount can cause damage, and our bodies have no defense against it. The effects are not limited to one generation but can be seen over generations.

Dioxins and PCBs are classified as POPs - Persistent Organic Pollutants due to the chemical characteristics they possess. POPs include chemicals such as pesticides, industrial chemicals, and unwanted by-products of industrial processes or combustion. The three main traits of POPs are: persistence as they are able to resist degradation for months and even decades; bio-accumulation as they can accumulate in living tissues at levels higher; and potential for long range transport.

They have the potential to travel great distances from the source of release through air, water, and migratory species. The global community has so far acknowledged 12 POPs commonly referred to as “dirty dozen”. These chemical substances cause injury to human health and to species and ecosystems both adjacent to and far away from their sources and therefore warrants immediate action.

Sources and the POPs convention
Dioxins are released into our environment as unintentional by-products from incineration of toxic and urban waste, the manufacture of chlorinated solvents and pesticides, paper and pulp mills, cement kilns that burn chemical waste as well as from production and disposal of the plastic PVC.

Noteworthy is the fact that cutting out fatty meat will not solve the dioxin problem. Phasing out the products and practices that make dioxin will.

The toxic substances measured in the study are slated for reduction and elimination by the Stockholm Convention, which holds its first Conference of the Parties beginning May 2, 2005. India signed the Convention in 2002 but has not ratified it.

The Convention mandates parties to take specific actions aimed at eliminating these pollutants from the global environment. The Convention should be viewed as a promise to take the actions needed to protect Indian and global public’s health and environment from the injuries that are caused by persistent organic pollutants, a promise that was agreed by representatives of the global community: governments, interested stakeholders, and representatives of civil society.

mediavigil

Asbestos scare prompts Pilbara factory walkout

Hundreds of workers have walked off the job at a Pilbara fertiliser
factory in north-west Western Australia over an asbestos scare.

The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union says the blue
asbestos, which is contained in gaskets imported from India, has
contaminated the Burrup Fertilisers plant.

A union spokesman says the gaskets are "lying around all over the place"
and the workers will only go back once the areas contaminated with
asbestos have been identified and isolated.

A WorkSafe investigator has been called in and the gaskets are being
examined to determine whether they do in fact contain asbestos.

Source: Laurie Kazan-Allen

EU to implement new electronic waste rules

New rules on electric and electronic waste is expected to come into force in the European Union (EU) on Saturday(13th Aug, 2005) when televisions, computers and other equipment can be exchanged free of charge to shops on a one-to-one basis with new product purchases. The directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment, known as the WEEE directive, covers one of the fastest growing waste problems in the 25-nation bloc. Many of the common components of such devices contain heavy metals such as mercury, lead and cadmium, and other substances that are dangerous to the health of humans and other animals. The WEEE directive aims to reduce the amount of waste electrical and electronic appliances being produced by ensuring that the highest possible number of used devices are recycled, reused or recovered. By the coming Saturday, EU member states should have set up collection systems for WEEE waste that allow consumers to hand in their old devices when they buy new ones. Collection points are also meant to allow people to dispose of old equipment free of charge. By December 2006, EU member states are meant to ensure that they collect four kilograms of WEEE waste per inhabitant per year.

Aug 12, 2005
Source : http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-08/12/content_3341998.htm

FAQ on EU Policies on Electric and Electronic Waste

The UK announced Aug 10, 2005 that it had delayed the introduction of the new disposal rules until mid-2006. The EU has provided Questions & Answers information on the implementation of rules on the disposal of electric and electronic waste products in Member Countries.

Aug 11, 2005
Source : http://www.finfacts.com/irelandbusinessnews/publish/article_10002881.shtml

Japan ratifies 1986 Asbestos Convention

Japan ratified on Thursday( Aug 11, 2005) the 1986 Asbestos Convention banning certain forms of asbestos, amid growing concern over exposure to the cancer-causing material. The treaty, signed in Geneva, Switzerland, will help promote efforts to protect workers here against the effects of the substance, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The 1986 convention bans certain types and uses of asbestos. It provides clear restrictions on any use, demolition and disposal of asbestos-containing products, such as insulation or roof tiles. Its ratification comes amid rising concern in Japan over asbestos exposure. More than 400 people died from asbestos-related cancers in the five years through March 2005, according to government figures released earlier this month. Highly carcinogenic types of the material -- so-called blue and brown asbestos -- were banned in Japan in 1995. But white asbestos, the most common form, was not outlawed until last October and a loophole still exists allowing the material to be used when there are no substitutes. Both houses of Japan's legislature unanimously approved the international convention in mid-July. Japan is only the 28th signatory of the asbestos convention, which has been criticized as a weak agreement ignored by many of the world's key asbestos-producing countries, including the U.S. and Russia.

Aug 11. 2005
Source : http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8BTJA0O0.htm?campaign_id=apn_home_down&chan=db

Removal of 600 Tonnes of Obsolete Pesticides

About 600 tonnes of the existing obsolete pesticides in Mozambique, South Africa are to be collected and stored in safe warehouses by June 2006, in a project budgetted at 1.5 million US dollars. This money is to be granted by the Japanese government in the terms of an agreement signed recently between the two governments for the second phase of the Removal and Prevention of Accumulation of Obsolete Pesticides Project. A meeting to define a national strategy to implement this second phase took place in Maputo on Thursday (11th Aug, 2005). The first phase of the project was carried out in 2004, and was basicly to make an inventory of the pesticides and assess the conditions in which they are stored. This work identified 11 areas "very much contamined" with pesticides, and also found that there are a number of warehouses with stocks of these poroducts kept in poor storage conditions. Comenting on the issue, the project's national coordinator, with the Environment Ministry, Samson Cuamba, said that most of the obsolete pesticides in the country were found in areas of great agricultural potential.

Aug 11, 2005
Source : http://allafrica.com/stories/200508110651.html

Rep. Holt seeks pesticides limits
The congressman wants federal limits on the use of pesticides at, and near, schools.

Concern that children are being overexposed to pesticides in an environment presumed to be safe — their schools — has prompted U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-12) to introduce legislation to place federal restrictions on pesticide use at, and near, schools. Exposure to pesticides can leave children more susceptible to learning and behavioral disorders, asthma and certain childhood cancers, he warned at a news conference Aug. 4 at Lawrence Elementary School, which was attended by several New York officials. Rep. Holt's legislation, the School Environmental Protection Act (H.R. 11), would require local educational agencies and schools to implement integrated pest management systems to minimize the use of pesticides in schools, and provide for notification of the use of such chemicals. "This has to do with the poisoning of children," said Rep. Holt, a Hopewell Township resident. "There has been concern for years about the exposure of children to dangerous pesticides. We feel that children deserve a special measure of protection, not only because they are our future — not only because they play without concern for the environment — but because they have a higher sensitivity to chemical because they are growing. The peer-reviewed JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) study "Acute Illnesses Associated With Pesticide Exposure at Schools," analyzed 2,593 poisonings from 1998 to 2002. It found that incidence rates of acute pesticide-related illnesses among children increased significantly from 1998 to 2002. More than two-thirds of poisonings were associated with pesticide use at school. The study pointed to the absence of federal law regulating pesticide use. There is substantial medical evidence linking chronic asthma and certain childhood asthma to pesticide exposure, state Sen. Barbara Buono, (D-Metuchen) said at the press conference. "Children breathe in more air per pound, so they are more vulnerable," she said. "There is a link between pesticide exposure and acute illness not just in schoolchildren, but also in school employees. We don't know the magnitude of this problem, which is why it's so important to have legislation on the federal level."

Aug 11, 2005
Source : http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15013925&BRD=1091&PAG=461&dept_id=425643&rfi=6

CropLife Canada seeks Supreme Court challenge of Toronto pesticide by-law
Industry taking legal challenge to ensure farmers can continue to offer Canadians a safe and affordable food supply

CropLife Canada and the Urban Pest Management Council Aug 10, 2005 announced that they want to challenge the City of Toronto's by-law banning beneficial pest control products before the Supreme Court of Canada. CropLife Canada is asking the Supreme Court of Canada to hear its legal challenge on the City of Toronto by-law. "Pest control products are already regulated by Health Canada and provide many benefits to Canadians," says Lorne Hepworth, President, CropLife Canada. "Without pesticides, food production would drop and food prices would rise," said Hepworth. "Municipal regulation that restricts the use of registered pest control products works at cross-purposes to the federal regulatory regime for pest control products and deprives the public access to beneficial products." CropLife Canada feels that access to federally registered pest control products is an important issue to Canadians and that is why they are taking this to Canada's highest court. While there may not be a lot of farms in the City of Toronto, the Toronto by-law sets a troubling precedent for Canada's farmers. Giving municipalities the authority to regulate and ban pesticides, whether it be in urban or rural municipalities, denies farmers and others the benefits of the technology. "The Supreme Court needs to examine the other part of the equation - the benefit side," said Hepworth. In fact, studies show that without pesticides, production costs would go up by 75% and food retail prices would go up 27%.

Aug 10, 2005
Source : http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/August2005/10/c8924.html











State joins challenge to federal mercury rule

Michigan in US is the 15th state to challenge a new federal regulation of airborne mercury pollution from electric power plants, saying it's too weak. Michigan officials filed a motion (Aug 10, 2005) Wednesday with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., asking to join a lawsuit that contends the rule lets coal-burning generators evade Clean Air Act requirements. "The federal rule falls far short of the measures needed to protect human health and the environment," said Steven Chester, director of the State Department of Environmental Quality. Eryn Witcher, spokeswoman for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which developed the regulation, said the Bush administration would "vigorously defend this rule against any challenges."

August 11, 2005 By John Flesher
Source : http://www.freep.com/news/mich/mercury11n_20050811.htm

Committee members vote favorably on mercury legislation

The Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture voted favorably to report out of committee an omnibus mercury bill, sponsored by state Rep. Douglas Petersen, D-Marblehead, and co-sponsored by more than 80 state legislators. Massachusetts, US Rep. Frank Smizik, D-Brookline, is House chairman of the committee. This bill phases out the sale of certain products containing mercury over the next several years including automobile switches, thermostats, thermometers and elemental mercury to schools. It also places disposal bans on mercury products and mandates manufacturers to label products that contain mercury and establish collection plans for those products."As the health effects of mercury are continually being discovered, we have a responsibility as legislators to pass laws that protect the health of the citizens of Massachusetts," Smizik said. "This legislation is long overdue, and Rep. Petersen has worked hard for years to bring this bill to the House floor. Our committee rewrite goes a long way to address the issue of mercury."

Aug 11, 2005
Source : http://www2.townonline.com/brookline/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=303171

Environmentalists seek mercury level regulations

Reducing mercury levels in Pennsylvania, US has sparked a battle between state legislators and local environmental groups. At a press conference Aug 12, 2005 Friday afternoon at Williams Park in Springfield, environmental groups voiced their opposition to a letter sent by Rep. William Adolph (R-165) and other state legislators asking the Environmental Quality Board not to set state mercury level regulations. "We want to ask Rep. Adolph to rethink his opposition to strong mercury regulations," said Penn Future vice president Jan Jarrett.Penn Future was joined by environmental groups, The Sierra Club, Penn Environment and the Pennsylvania chapter of Rep America - a national grassroots organization of republicans for environmental protection - to ask that 90 percent mercury reduction be required for coal-fired power plants. The protest stemmed from a letter written by Pennsylvania state senators Mary Jo White (R-21) and Raphael Musto (D-14), along with Adolph to the Environmental Quality Board. The letter urged the board not to pass a Pennsylvania-specific mercury emissions standard and to rely on the Federal Air Pollution Control Act to rectify mercury problems.

By Drake Bearden , Aug 12, 2005
Source : http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15019942&BRD=1725&PAG=461&dept_id=45529&rfi=6

Uranium companies 'rewriting industry rules'

The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) has accused the Federal Government of allowing uranium mining companies to rewrite the regulations that govern the industry. The Government has set up a steering group to look at how to further develop Australia's uranium industry, while raising public awareness of its benefits. The group will aim to overcome impediments to the industry's growth and will comprise representatives of the mining industry, Indigenous communities and other groups. ACF campaigner David Noonan says the Government should switch its focus to what is best for the environment, not mining companies.

Aug 12, 2005
Source : http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200508/s1436335.htm

Proposed EPA rules on human testing come under attack

New rules drafted by the Environmental Protection Agency to protect human subjects of scientific tests came under harsh criticism Aug 10, 2005 from environmental groups, government scientists and members of Congress, who called the proposal misleading, dangerous and industry-friendly. The 76-page draft, obtained by The Sun, was hurried to completion this month after Congress denounced this summer standards for EPA-related tests and noted health risks and ethical lapses in tests performed by the pesticide industry.
An introduction to the document promises more stringent rules, including tighter controls on human studies, the creation of an independent panel to evaluate the ethics of proposed studies, and protections preventing pregnant women and children from being used as test subjects.

By Andrew Schneider, Aug 11, 2005
Source : http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-te.testing11aug11,1,5869652.story?coll=bal-home-headlines

What exists must be acknowledged

What exists must be acknowledged

Be it Kamasutra, The Perfumed Garden, The Almond- they exist and they have been acknowledged...as classics-one can argue about whether its erotica or pornography.

In the past Chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC)have proposed to legalise porn. It has been argued that almost every city/villages has cinemas/video parlours which show adult movies illegally in the morning show.

Porn is shown everywhere the best way to fight it is to show them openly in theatres with legally authorised licences. But this the change can only happen if the law was changed through an act of parliament.

Some Film researchers from India & Europe whom I happened to know bought such Indian films shown in morning shows to ascertain for themselves what the hype was all about concluded -the hype is not worth it-its so damn boring, they concluded.

Most of us have problems with TOI but they have a point of view and we should exercise our point of view. In some cases such point of views can converge as well by default.

One is aware that Vineet Jain could have provided the same media space to more pressing issues but then he prefers stories which create a lukewarm temperature, an ideal temprature at which the advertisement revenue flows in. The TOI story "Legalise porn?" quoted Bertrand Russell saying, "nine-tenth of the appeal of pornography is due to the indecent feeling about sex which moralists inculcate in the young while one-tenth is psychological, occurring one way or the other, whatever the state of the law."

Winners, Losers and Looters of IIMC

A feast is on at IIMC. Once again there is a new batch of over 150 youngsters
full of dreams and aspirations. Most of them feel that they have “arrived” once
having got admission in IIMC.

The “exterior” of IIMC is so beautiful that it is quite deceptive. It creates an
illusion that it is the best mass communication institute in the country (and
the NAM countries) if not in the world. The glitter in the eyes of new entrants
and the bristling activity in IIMC campus in the beginning of new academic year
reflect a hope.

And, it is this hope that bad teachers and instructors attempt to blur as their
first lesson to the students. Every enslaving act has first to kill hope. IIMC
Management pretends ignorance about the fcat that this hope is under a
full-scale assault by bad teachers & instructors, the crooks and those in
between.

The Management seems to be hand in glove with corporate media schools to erode
the importance IIMC. Wittingly or unwittingly IIMC Management is part of a
conspiracy to to undermine the brand value of IIMC. Most of the good faculty
members have been poached by corporate media schools. Others are negotiating to
move out. Instead of inviting quality visiting faculties only friends of
director are called.
IIMC Management has divorced professionalism from its approach and seems to have
mastered the art of choosing unsuitable faculties. It has fallen prey to power
brokers.

There is a debate underway about the need to update the course content at IIMC.
There is a need to bring the faculty members and management also under scanner.
The question is not only of the competence of the faculty but also of their
service conditions.

Competence and talent is attracted through the reputation of an organization and
the pay package it offers. It is not to argue that the competence and experience
of the faculty members does not require to be revisited but why to blame an
individual who has been appointed an assistant professor for a monthly salary of
Rs. 15,000/- on contractual basis for three years- without any other benefit not
even of leave, increments, medical, gratuity, DA etc that every employee is
entitled in even the private sector.

You must be aware some of IIMC faculty members are contractual bonded labour.
These contractual bonded laborers are considered second grade by the permanent
professors & IIMC Management.

Also at this juncture the competence and talent must take a back seat. The major
question is whether the faculty is students-friendly, whether they have any
sense of commitment and involvement.

Even the person who is a cook in canteen or a chokidar at the gate contributes –
we do learn from every person that we come across and that is what all-good
journalism is all about. The same is true in the field of advertisement and
public relations where human resources are valued and their performance is
appreciated through incentives.

In the present scenario, the students of IIMC draw a better salary at entry
point in large number of cases than the faculty members. The faculty is neither
appreciated nor deemed worthy of incentives.

In such a situation, it is relevant to recollect the anecdotes concerning IIMC
faculty and their background, which led to such a plight.

There are those who know how to mint money unscrupulously. A Professor of IIMC
once boasted that he is highest paid academician in the world- and the logic was
that his monthly emoluments are around Rs. 50,000/- and he had taken only three
classes in the year which makes it Rs. two lakhs for one lecture- a feat indeed
and that too at IIMC which is an Indian public institute run through public
money not Bill Gates’ company.

One is at liberty to feel proud that you are alumni of an institution that
engages highest paid academician of the world.

One often hears that the IIMC faculty is not up to the mark! IIMC has done
everything to make them “up to the mark”.

Has any one ever heard of any educational institution in the world that first
appoints a faculty member and then discovers that its syllabus cannot be related
to the high educational qualifications (Ph.D. in French) and expertise in “core
area”? As a consequence the syllabus has been altered and a capsule of
“language and communication” introduced to justify the appointment and keep the
Doctor professor employed and engaged. That’s a different story that the
concerned faculty member is still employed although not in academic and
professional work of IIMC but in many ‘other’ activities that keep other faculty
members busy.

Is it surprising that IIMC students who are trained on this module keep
complaining about the course content?

There is one more Professor (Full) who is always dependent on his seniority and
permanent post to protect his “high status” in the power structure of IIMC. He
has been with the Institute for over fifteen years but still no one is aware of
his “core area” of teaching and training in relation to the syllabus of IIMC
courses.

One keeps hearing about the need to upgrade the course content. How about
upgrading the intellectual content IIMC faculty?

There are suggestions galore. Perhaps, sarcastically one suggestion is that
alumni community should demand downgrading of the syllabus so that large numbers
of faculty members are kept at least busy with educational activities. This
would provide them little time to indulge in lies, half-truths, manipulation and
running down everyone who happen to come on their way.

IIMC alumni should understand at least now after so much experience in
communication and media that at IIMC, the way it is shaped today, faculty is not
for students rather students are for the faculty. It seems that the primary
responsibility of student community is to keep the faculty in comfort and in
good humour and not to create problems.

These are many glaring cases that we can share some later point of time.
Currently attempts are underway to create fresh artificial conflicts between
various journalism courses (most of us know about such conflicts).

IIMC at this juncture is confronting a disaster that will decide and define its
future, if there is any future left for this ‘polytechnic’ full of “bad teachers
& instructors” and the “crooks” without a faculty.

How these bad instructors of the polytechnic have survived so far?

They survive because IIMC runs only nine months course and by the time they get
exposed to students, they are safe as the student community is out on their jobs
or are struggling to get a job. They do not get time to express their anger for
the wrong that had been committed on them in those nine months.

And again in this age people do not want to “waste” their time on the issues
that relate to “public good” and their personal interests are no more attached
with the subject that is called IIMC. They feel they do not have any stakes left
in it. So by the time these “wonderful nine months” are over everyone is busy
and they develop different kind of stakes.

Are you aware why and how IIMC hostel got discontinued? One needs to know in
order to demand the hostel back for the students.

The IIMC Management was afraid that students living under same roof might get
united and create problems. Every corrupt and rotten system has some inbuilt
defences so the hostel was discontinued on the pretext that it is required for
IIS-a totally false pretext indeed.

After few years, on the insistence of a section of faculty & a particular batch
of students the IIMC Management agreed to provide hostel but only to girl
students as it was perceived that they will not form some kind of “union”, it
was presumed. After all they are girls.

IIMC hostel was been built for diploma course students and initially they used
to live there. No problem of any serious nature was ever reported. There was a
Boys Wing and a Girls Wing and all of them used to live there happily and in a
community. Learning takes place in this kind of community through peers, which
is an advantage with our Dhenkanal branch.

It is high time the well wishers of IIMC came forward, spared some time for our
alma mater or for “public good”. Perhaps the concept of heaven was created when
people refused to come forward for collective good- the public good and needed
to be motivated by fear- a “good fear of god” indeed.

There is an alternative. Come to IIMC. Tell the employees that you keep on
meeting Shri Jaipal Reddy and be part of the loot.

P.S: Earlier IIMC faculties were appointed Visiting Faculty at Mussoorie IAS
academy now this trend has been discontinued. Will some one confirm? If it is
true then why it happen?

Is true that Vartika Nanda, Associate Professor, Television Journalism has been
kept out of teaching?
Is it true that Librarian Ram will take television journalism's classes?
How can a librarian be assigned to teach television module?
Is it true that Hemant Joshi will teach Radio Journalism?
Is it true that Pradeep Mathur has been transferred to IIMC Dhenkenal?
Does Dr. P. Bapaiah, Registrar, IIMC have any role of in it?

S. K. Arora, IAS, Chairman of IIMC and Praveen Kumar Tripathi, IAS director,
IIMC are busy in their search for a full time director? Some names, which are in
circulation, include Amitabh Chakravarty [who is he?] (some say he is a better
choice), K M Shrivastava, Professor of News Agency Journalism (some say a
controversial choice), Umakant Mishra, Director, Publications Division, Ministry
of Information & Broadcasting (no opinions) and Subhash Dhuliya, course
director, Hindi Journalism, IIMC Dhenkenal

Will it not be better if all the students of the current batch are made members
of Indian institute of Mass Communication Old Students Association (IIMCOSA) list so that they can report the goings on at IIMC?

Waste burning is not renewable energy!

It is alarming to note that at a time when the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is taking a progressive stance, the Ministry of Science and Technology is promoting the use of incinerators.

Quite contrary to what Vilas Muttemwar, the Minister for Non-conventional Energy Sources said today at the National Conference on Renewable Energy for Urban Affairs with a view to demonstrate the waste-to-energy (WTE) projects in Hyderabad, Vijaywada and Lucknow for treatment of urban waste, "Municipal solid waste is not considered to be a renewable energy source since it tends to be a mixture of fuels that can be traced back to renewable and non-renewable sources," says Energy Program Coordinator Mark Radka for the UN Environment Program. Energy generated from waste by burning is highly polluting. Attempts are under way by vested interests to promote non-renewable energy sources as renewable energy sources.

Burning of waste transfers the hazardous characteristics of waste from solid form to air, water and ash. It also releases new toxins, which were not present in the original waste stream, besides generating heavy metals.

Incineration is unambiguously polluting, the suggestions of there being good incinerators and bad incinerators are ridiculous. There is a need for greater circumspection within the sub-sectors of "environmental" services because notorious attempts to encourage incineration of municipal waste to produce energy and treating it as a "renewable energy" projects is fraught with disastrous consequences.

The fact that these are attracting favourable terms from the Indian environment ministry and Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources (MNES) through the misuse of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of Kyoto Protocol sets a bad precedent as is happening in the case of Chennai, Bhopal, and Jaipur. In Chennai, Energy Developments Limited (EDL), an Australian company, is dumping its untried and untested technology which has been deemed redundant in Australia. The plant is proposed on the Pallikarni wetland known for 26 species of birds in Perengudi, Chennai, where residents are being used as guinea pigs for its experiment. The mothers’ milk over there has already been tested and it contains high amount of dioxins due to exposure to waste burning. Municipal Corporations of Delhi and Kanpur have withdrawn from the agreements with EDL.

But the way Ministry of Science and Technology’s agency Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) is promoting SELCO International Limited’s pelletisation based waste-to-energy plant perverts waste management because it encourages waste maximisation, which is contrary to the basic tenet of waste management -- that, is reduce, reuse and recycle. Villagers from the Gandamguda, Perencheru panchayat of Ranga Reddy district, Andhra Pradesh and Elikatta village, Shadnagar where SELCO’s installation are located are complaining of pollution and unbearable stink from it. Similar plants have been installed in Vijaywada and several others are proposed in the state.

Pelletisation is a process of making fuel pellets out of the combustible part of waste after mixing with binders and additives. The electricity generation involves burning of pellets, which are also referred as refuse derived fuel in the plant’s furnace, this releases heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants like dioxins. These toxins are building up in the environment, especially the aquatic ecosystem of the villages such as Osman Sagar and Himayatsagar drinking water bodies in its vicinity. The emission of the notorious pollutants in Gandamguda is linked to cancer, immune and reproductive system disorders, birth defects, and other health threats.

Besides environmental groups, the villagers have sought removal of the dumpsite and the plant. Residents of Gandamguda and nearby villages and colonies are showing evidence corroborated by the findings of Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board, which indicate that the chemicals leeching out of dumpsites and the air pollution because of open burning is entering the food chain.

After the Doha round of World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations, trade and environment are being looked at simultaneously. But trade in environmental goods and services, which are under negotiation, is worrisome since besides other inherent inequities built into the framework, it is pushing incinerator technologies in the list of environmental goods and services.

In India the campaign against such technologies has been purposeful in so far as the Indian Commerce and Industry Ministry has categorically termed incinerators as a polluting technology, which is being thrust upon developing countries. Apparently it has fine-tuned itself with the obsolete nature of these outdated technologies. Waste burning and combustion technologies violate Kyoto Protocol, Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and recommendations of the Global Mercury Assessment Report. The rationale for trade in goods, which violate environmental international treaties and attempt to promote them as environmental goods and services, is questionable.

Garbage starts off composed of fairly large items (organic matter, plastics, sand, building material, heavy metals and so forth). Inside the combustion chamber, the garbage is broken down and transformed into small pieces, called ash.

Turning waste into ash by processing it inside an incinerator vastly increases the surface area of the garbage and thus makes it leach much more rapidly. What you get at the bottom is not a thin, weak leachate but a rich, strong leachate that is more toxic than the leachate which would have been if it had leached raw garbage instead of ash.

The advocates of the project claim that no segregation of the plastics from the garbage is required. This not only violates the letter and spirit of the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management Handling) Rules 2000, which stipulates segregation and promotes recycling of "recoverable resources" but also pre-empts segregation and recycling efforts being made by municipalities and communities around the country.

Therefore, environmental groups welcomed the views of Indian Economic Advisor to Ministry of Commerce and Industry, S. Nigam, who said, solid waste incinerators, which are considered environmental goods by some, are considered as polluters by others. Such goods also should not be included in the list, he added.

Even as the debate about the definition of environmental good and services continues, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organisation of industrialised countries, based in Paris, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), a 21-nation group and Japan have come up with their own list. Waste incinerators are being promoted for supposed pollution protection and dubious renewable energy in these lists. Burn technologies like incinerators and gasifiers cannot be included in the list of environmental goods and services.

At a time when our Ministry of Commerce and Industry is taking a progressive stance it is alarming to note that our Ministry of Science and Technology is promoting the use of incinerators. MNES is subsidising hazardous technologies like combustion and gasification in total disregard of its Timarpur waste-to-energy blunder in Delhi. The MNES and Ministry of Science and Technology are zealously providing technological solutions to management problems.

The MNES has issued an executive order to all the state chief secretaries and the administrators of Union Territories asking them to promote such WTE projects. As a consequence, agreements for many such toxic projects have been signed and are being signed around the country. Surprisingly, these projects have undergone no environment impact assessment and public hearing process. The approval from the Technical Appraisal Committee has not even been sought.

The statement from Mark Radka of the UN Environment Program about the non-renewable status of energy from MSW clears the confusion created by the toxic technology vendors. The Indian Environment Ministry, MNES and Ministry of Science and Technology should take a lesson from our Commerce and Industry ministry, which opposes inclusion of incinerators in the WTO's list of environmental goods and services in the name of renewable energy technology and for waste management. But it is appalling to note that instead of eliminating hazardous technologies in keeping with our international commitments, our ministries are advocating waste management processes contrary to sustainable practices world-wide.

Boycott all asbestos-containing products

BANI appeals to citizens to boycott all asbestos-containing products, and thus save themselves from asbestos exposure.

After the Mumbai flood disaster like Tsunami, the victims should not be exposed to asbestos building materials in the name of providing housing for their relief. Even as the Minerals and Metals Trading Corporation (MMTC) under the Ministry of Commerce continues to trade in white asbestos and its products, asbestos is now a totally banned substance throughout all 25-member countries of the European Union (EU), thus taking the number of countries which have banned asbestos to almost 40. This is happening in a situation where Union Ministry of Health and Ministry of Environment and Forests have different views on whether white asbestos (chrysotile) causes cancer or not. The former has informed Parliament that it’s a carcinogen and the latter has informed Parliament that it’s a non-carcinogen.

Unmindful of the fact that even the white asbestos industry acknowledges its cancer causing nature, the Union Government is allowing the confusion to persist with an estimated 30 deaths of workers happening every day in India.

A five-year phase-out period which was permitted under European Commission Directive 1999/77/EC ended on January 1, 2005. According to the written procedure signed on July 26, 1999, the introduction of new applications of asbestos cement materials, friction products, seals and gaskets is prohibited; the restrictions apply to chrysotile (white asbestos), amosite and crocidolite having previously been banned.

In India, grant of fresh mining leases and renewal of existing mining leases for asbestos are at present banned on health grounds. The lease of most of the pre-existing mines would expire in February 2005 and they would most likely be not renewed further. Also blue and brown asbestos and asbestos waste is banned in the country, it’s only the white asbestos which remains to be banned.

The European directive states: "No threshold level of exposure has yet been identified below which chrysotile asbestos does not pose carcinogenic risks." Highlighting the risks from intermittent exposure, it maintains: "An effective way of protecting human health is to prohibit the use of chrysotile asbestos fibres and products containing them." World Trade Organization and all concerned UN agencies have corroborated this but Indian Government is pretending to be deaf and blind to the incontrovertible evidence against white asbestos.

Of the 15 original EU member states only Portugal and Greece were still using asbestos when the EU ban came into force; many of the new EU members had banned asbestos in the run-up to their joining the Community.

The EU asbestos ban marks a landmark in the global campaign to ban asbestos. The fact that 450 million Europeans refuse to use asbestos cannot help but influence decisions taken elsewhere. If asbestos is too hazardous for Europeans, surely it is too hazardous for Indians as well.

Earlier Global Asbestos Congress 2004 in Tokyo with representation from 40 countries and regions all over the world also called for ban on asbestos mining, use, trade and recycling all the countries. Safe removal and disposal of asbestos must be carried out according to established rules and procedures. It also called for an immediate moratorium on the use of asbestos in cyclone, earthquake and war affected areas.

In view of the devastating health effects of all forms of asbestos, a proven carcinogen, Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI) endorsed this declaration and has collaborated with trade union groups like CITU, AITUC, HMS and others who have also called for ban on continuing use of white asbestos. Citizen groups and even economists who critiqued the Budget supported its condemnation of Union Budget 2004 for promotion of white asbestos.

BANI and trade union groups demand protection of workers and the public. Workers and the public who may be exposed to products containing asbestos must be protected by means of adequate risk management procedures developed with the active participation of these people. The rehabilitation of environmentally damaged areas should be a priority.

Asbestos victims and their families must have prompt medical treatment and equitable compensation. Empowerment of the victims and their families in participating in local campaigns and taking direct action should be given a high priority.

It calls for promotion of alternatives of white asbestos. Every effort should be made to secure a just transition and social protection for workers and communities affected by asbestos bans. Any transfer of asbestos production and asbestos containing products and wastes to countries in industrial development must be prevented.

Awaiting government's prompt action, BANI appeals to the citizens to boycott all asbestos containing products to save themselves from asbestos exposure in the context of a global asbestos epidemic.

Inappropriate technology for waste treatment

Environmental groups express their concerns about the installation of two proposed municipal solid waste to energy plants in Timarpur and Okhla, based on incineration of Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF).

To,

Mr Rakesh Mehta
Commissioner, MCD
Town Hall
Delhi

Sub: Inappropriate technology for waste treatment

Dear Mr Mehta,

This is with reference to initiative by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IFLFSL) for the installation of two proposed municipal solid waste (MSW) to energy plants in Timarpur and Okhla, based on incineration of Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF). We would like to state our concerns about this venture.

Sir, we are various environmental groups working on issues of urban waste and appropriate waste technologies in the country. We also work as Alliance for Waste Management (AWM) representing over 100 groups working on the issue of waste at both local and national levels. We have within us technical as well as local capacities and experiences and also work with several municipalities in the country.

We understand that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is installing waste to energy technologies, under the name of RDF for disposing off 2000 –3000 metric tonnes (MT) of MSW per day. While we do appreciate the outstanding effort of the MCD in showing leadership on the issue of waste in India by undertaking many unusual initiatives such as the release of the Waste Master Plan, 2020, we do think that the move to install RDF plants in Delhi is an environmentally unsustainable solution. It raises serious concerns about the health and safety of the citizens of Delhi, which we believe such a technology, will jeopardise.

In fact the MCD’s Master Plan Report (2020) itself says, ... “RDF is often an option when emission standards are lax and RDF is burned in conventional boilers with no special precautions for emissions.” We are surprised that despite this observation the report then goes on to suggest RDF. We are also surprised to note that the consultants were hired by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which has been central to the Stockholm Convention, and discourages the use of incineration. In fact the MCD report itself says that RDF is another form of incineration.

Besides we are also concerned that such a master plan has been drawn up with no consultation with civil society members despite their wide experience in this area and the substantial inputs they have provided over the past decade.

RDF and incineration

RDF is a thermal and combustion technology, mainly used to prepare waste for mass incineration. The reason for making pellets is to both get the waste in a dry combustible form besides making it ready for those types of incinerators, which can handle RDF. As such all controls which are necessary for incineration need to be in place for RDF, which is not a stand-alone technology, but only another stage for a type of incineration. All such technologies go under various names such as RDF, incineration, pyrolysis, gasification etc.

Needless to say, if mixed waste is burnt, it will create problems of very toxic compounds such as dioxins and furans, heavy metals and other pollutants. The calorific value for the waste comes from materials such as plastics and metals. Plastics, especially chlorinated plastics such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) when combusted gives rise to these highly toxic pollutants. In fact PVC plastic combustion is banned in India by regulation both in the municipal and bio-medical waste handling rules. In the case of hazardous waste India has developed a very stringent standard, which follows the European standard for the Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facilities (TSDFs).

Toxics are created at various stages of such thermal technologies, and not only at the end of the stack. These can be created during the process, in the stack pipes, as residues in ash, scrubber water and filters, and in fact even in air plumes which leave the stack. There are no safe ways of avoiding their production or destroying these once produced, and at best they can be trapped at extreme cost in sophisticated filters or in the ash. The ultimate release is unavoidable, and if trapped in ash or filters, these then become hazardous wastes themselves. On the other hand other methods of MSW treatment, which are non-thermal and do not create any such problems.

Pelletisation causes special problems. Since pellets, to burn need plastics and paper in them, these when used in household stoves or industrial furnaces which are scattered in communities, release toxics in completely uncontrolled environments to which communities are directly exposed.

Cost concerns

Such technologies cannot be justified either from the point of view of energy generation or for safe waste abatement. For example the cost of a typical 5-mw waste-to-energy project is about Rs 40 crore, with each mw of electricity consuming about 150 tonnes of urban waste. This amounts to an investment of Rs 8 crore per mw, or twice the cost of conventional thermal power. The subsidy alone to sustain such projects, especially for demonstration projects, exceeds 50% of the project cost, an unjustifiable public investment of Rs 20 crore for 800 tonnes of urban waste disposal.

All over the developed world, almost half the investment of their cost is put in emission control systems only to reduce emissions, some of which are very deadly (as mentioned earlier), such as mercury and dioxins and furans, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and heavy metals like lead, cadmium, mercury, that waste incinerators. For example a 2000 MT per day incinerator can cost upwards of USD 500 million in Europe, half of the cost being put into emission control.

Indian garbage has an average calorific value of about 800 cal / kg. For combustion technologies to succeed they would need about 2000 to 3000 cal / kg, other wise auxiliary fuel has to be added. This makes the process more uneconomical and polluting than it already is.

Overall environmental impacts

The impacts of incineration or of RDF are wide. The pollutants which are created, even if trapped (at astronomical expense), reside in filters and ash, which need special landfills for disposal. Besides in case energy recovery is attempted then it requires heat exchangers which operate at temperatures which maximise dioxin production. If the gases are quenched, it goes against energy recovery.

International legislation

At the international level India is party to the Stockholm Convention, which we are on the verge of ratifying. This Convention deals with very toxic chemicals known as persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which include dioxins and furans. These are largely the result of waste combustion or thermal treatment of municipal and medical wastes, especially involving chlorinated plastics such as PVC.

The United States’ Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has evaluated that that incinerator emissions are the primary source of dioxin, and major sources of mercury, lead, arsenic, particulate, and other pollutants. The ash that results from burning trash is even more toxic. These effects have been recognised worldwide.

Inventories of releases of such emissions, such as dioxins, heavy metals etc. have put municipal waste incinerators to be amongst the highest sources of such pollutants worldwide. Of course these are global pollutants but have drastic short term and long-term health effects. Various conventions have stated concerns about this.

The incineration of pellets made from Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) violates several international laws such as:

a) Kyoto Protocol: As per Annexure A of the Protocol waste incineration is a greenhouse gas emitter.

b) Stockholm Convention on POPs: Calls for improvements in waste management with the aim of the cessation of open and other uncontrolled burning of wastes, including the burning of landfill sites. States that “ when considering proposals to construct new waste disposal facilities, consideration should be given to alternatives such as activities to minimize the generation of municipal and medical waste, including resource recovery, reuse, recycling, waste separation and promoting products that generate less waste. Under this approach, public health concerns should be carefully considered, as per Annexure C of the Convention.”

c) Recommendations of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)'s Global Assessment on Mercury. The Global Mercury Assessment Working Group recommended measures to address global adverse impacts of mercury at the global, regional, national and local levels. The options include measures such as reducing or eliminating the mercury emission from waste incineration because unlike other heavy metals, mercury has special properties that make it difficult to capture in many control devices.

National legislation

In fact all recent waste policies of the Government of India, which include the Supreme Court’s High Powered Committee report of Urban waste, the Shukla Committee report of the Ministry of Urban Affairs and Employment, as well as the MSW national regulations issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, do not recommend the use of incineration.

Further regarding Schedule IV of the Municipal Solid Waste Rules, 2000, it is our understanding that the signatories of the agreement have not sought any approval from the Delhi Pollution Control Board or Central Pollution Control Board, as is mandatory.

The proposed plant is not in line with national legislations and guidelines such as:

a) MSW Rules, 2000 because according to the MSW Rules it is illegal to incinerate chlorinated plastics (like PVC) and wastes chemically treated with any chlorinated disinfectant. The reason to ban incineration of chlorinated products is to stop formation and emission of dioxins, one of the most toxic substances known to human beings.

b) Recommendations of the Supreme Court constituted committee on waste management. The Burman Committee recommended that composting should be carried out in each municipality. Local bodies are cautioned not to adopt expensive technologies of power generation, fuel pelletisation, incineration, etc until they are proven under Indian conditions.

c) Delhi High Court order because the court had directed the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) to conduct an inquiry into the failure of the Timarpur plant. The high court order came in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed in 2000 by B L Wadhera.

d) MCD’s own Feasibility Study and Master Plan for Optimal Waste Treatment and Disposal for the Entire State of Delhi of March 2004 because it says, “Incineration of RDF is considered waste incineration.” (Page 25, Appendix D, Technology Catalogue). It also says the costs of RDF are often high for societies with low calorific value because energy is used to dry the waste before it becomes feasible to burn it.

e) ‘White Paper on Pollution in Delhi with an Action Plan’ prepared by Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. It says, “The experience of the incineration plant at Timarpur, Delhi and the briquette plant at Bombay support the fact that thermal treatment of municipal solid waste is not feasible, in situations where the waste has a low calorific value. A critical analysis of biological treatment as an option was undertaken for processing of municipal solid waste in Delhi and it has been recommended that composting will be a viable option. Considering the large quantities of waste requiring to be processed, a mechanical composting plant will be needed.”

Health impacts and concerns

Based on the appraisal of all the sources of pollutants, the pathways of exposure and the receptors, it has been found that the technology, which is being, suggested increases pollution in air, water and land leading to food chain contamination and disease hazards. There is overwhelming scientific evidence that incineration is a cause of ill-health:

a) Although communities living in the immediate vicinity of incinerators are most at risk from the emissions, explosions etc., the contamination is not restricted to a specific locality.

b) Test have shown areas as far as 1,000 miles are impacted directly by the chemical particulates, metals, dioxin, products of incomplete combustion etc., from it. Every resident of Delhi in particular would be exposed to the toxins emitted by incinerators via the food chain through fish, milk and other dairy produce.

c) Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) have recognised long term toxic effects, which transfer from one generation to another, through mother’s breast milk, and at extremely low and minute exposures. These are global pollutants.

d) What is of grave concern to civil society groups, doctors and scientists is that the womb offers little protection to the unborn child as many of these chemicals can pass through the placental wall and interfere with hormone behaviour during foetal development.

e) Even breast fed infants would be affected as its by-products also contaminate their mother’s milk. By installing such a technology the citizenry stand at great risk of such contamination and health effects.

Concerns about recycling

The installation of these technologies, which combust or thermally change materials which are otherwise being recycled, goes against the whole ethos of recycling. Hundreds of thousands of people seek their livelihood through recycling in India. Approaches to waste management should lead to socially acceptable solutions and helping already marginalized sectors.

Alternatives

Also from our understanding, RDF or incineration is completely inappropriate for Indian urban waste, which is largely biodegradable in nature, but also that they ext5ract a very high cost for the energy which they claim to generate. The cost, which is largely subsidised by various schemes, does not however include the environmental and health costs caused by their toxic releases, and which are externalised. These technologies also use valuable resources which can be recycled, such as plastics and metals, and which support a massive recycling sector in the country. On the other hand Indian municipal waste is fit for composting and bio-methanation treatment processes.

In fact we feel that such high cost routes must be avoided and instead only appropriate methods such as bio-methanation, composting and proper recycling propagated. Incentives and subsidies should be offered in areas of `cold’ technologies alone, which are suited to our country economically, socially and also to our wastes.

Therefore, adopting alternative cleaner methods of waste disposal is deemed sane and sustainable. The need for low-cost solutions presents significant difficulties, but it is not an impossible task. The ideal resource management strategy for MSW is to avoid its generation in the first place. This implies changing production and consumption patterns to eliminate the use of disposable, non-reusable, non-returnable products and packaging.

The alternative waste disposal methods include:

i. Waste reduction
ii. Waste segregation
iii. Reuse and extended use
iv. Recycling
v. Bio-methanation technology
vi. Composting
vii. Vermicomposting

We urgently urge you to discard any proposal, which does not adopt any of the above-mentioned methods to dispose of Indian urban wastes. We would be happy to provide you information or clarification on this issue.

Thanking you,

Yours faithfully

Indian Municipal Garbage: How to manage it?

In India, under the business as usual scenario, the total Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSW) generation within next five decades would multiply five times the present level of about 50 million tones per day.

In such a backdrop, issues ranging from centralized waste management, decentralized waste management, regional waste management, resource generation & recovery, sanitary landfill to carbon credits for MSW projects were debated at a National workshop on Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSW): Sharing of Experiences and Lessons Learnt during 13th –14th July, 2005.

The workshop was co-sponsored by Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO), Union Ministry of Urban Development & Poverty Alleviation USAEP, Water Sanitation Program (World Bank) and was held at India International Centre (IIC) Annexure, New Delhi. International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) and Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) also supported this workshop.

Finance and consultancy for waste management seemed to be the central theme of the workshop in the context of increasing population, consumerism, resource constraints and the directions from the Indian Supreme Court and the High Courts.

Perhaps taking note of the fact that the current waste management practices adversely affect human habitat, panelists like N C Vasuki, President of International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) and CEO, Delaware Solid Waste Authority, USA, P U Asnani, USAEP and others shared their wisdom on waste management.

Vasuki said India and China are biggest dioxins emitters. Therefore, before embarking on incinerator projects in India, there must be proper pollution control and regulation in place. He is an ardent advocate of thermal treatment process for waste management. He is known for misleading people with his talk of multiple benefits by using thermal technologies, which according to him leads to reduction in landfill volume, energy recovery by displacing fossil fuels, recovery of metals, and some reduction in global-warming gases. These claims of Vasuki are factually incorrect.

He refers to European waste policy as non-pragmatic and is generally dismissive about "Polluter Pays” principle. He makes fun of this policy, which makes the companies that manufacture, and sell products as the "polluters," not the "consumers" who purchase the products and the EU decree that polluters should pay to collect and recycle all the packaging materials. He feels something is wrong with EU system of thought insisting that placing organics in landfills was not acceptable and its Directive about landfilling of materials containing more than 5% carbon would not be allowed after 2005.
Vasuki will have the Indian policymakers and citizens believe that the American waste policy is more pragmatic and less dependent on Government.

Asnani who was introduced as the Patron, Municipal Solid Waste Association of India advocates pelletisation and seems convinced about its appropriateness. He has articulated his views on it at a seminar on "Urban Waste Management-Options for Future" which was organsied by Consultancy Development Centre (CDC) and Sycom Consultancy Services and sponsored by Thermax, Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (MNES) and Global Trust Bank. Asnani is a member, Technology Advisory Group (TAG), Union Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India. He has divided the country into three parts for SWM solutions:-
1. Cities with population of 1 million-according to him, these can go for state of the art technology provided it is approved by the TAG
2. Corporations and municipalities with a population of 1/2 million and-these should go for simplest technology
3. Nagar Panchayats-these should go for simplest technology

At the HUDCO’s workshop on the 13th July, the session on “ Providing Nation-wide infrastructure for SWM” was chaired by Dr Indrani Chndrasekharan, Director, Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF). The panelists were P U Asnani, United States –Asia Environment Partnership (USAEP) {USAID}, Dr A B Akolkar, Additional Director, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and member, Supreme Court Committee on Waste to Energy, H Lanier Hickman, former Executive Director, Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), USA.

Hickman who is a long time advocate of waste to energy is the author of books like American Alchemy: The History of Solid Waste Management in the United States and Principles of Integrated Solid Waste Management. He said, “I do not agree with the statement that Indian waste is different. Trash everywhere is trash and if it can be managed at other places it can be managed here.” When it was pointed out to him that all the reports from government and the statistics about waste composition in India showed that Indian waste has low calorific value which led to the failure of the Timarpur waste to energy plant, he had no answers. Hickman suggested top-down public policy for waste management.

When the report “Resources up in Flames” of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), Washington was cited to respond to his support for incinerators, Hickman agreed that for last 15 years there has been no new incinerator in U.S but the old ones are functioning efficiently with pollution control equipments.

The session on “Initiatives in Indian Mega- Metro-cities” had panelists like Ravi Dass, Director in Chief, Conservation & Sanitation Engineering Department, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Subhash Chandra, special commissioner, Bangalore Mahanagar Palike, Anil Mukim, Municipal Commissioner, Ahmedabad, Pankaj Joshi, Municipal Commissioner, Surat, Vivek Agarwal, CDC, Jaipur and S Dasgupta, WSP.

Ravi Dass gave an outline of how waste is being managed in Delhi. He referred to privatization of collection & transportation for which agreement has been signed on 31st January 2005 with three companies for six out of the twelve zones of MCD. Quoting Delhi Waste Master Plan Report of 2004 he said, MCD has identified processing and treatment technologies for MSW such as composting, pelletisation & biomethanation. What he does not mention is that in the preparation of the Delhi Waste Master Plan Report, it did not consult any civil society group from India.

MCD has commissioned first two pilot facilities based on Methanation and RDF with daily capacities of 50 and 100 tonnes respectively through a renewed call for proposals from the private sector and rigorous scrutiny. MCD has signed agreement with IL&FS unmindful of the environment, health and safety of the residents of Delhi, which RDF technology will jeopardise.

MCD is either pretending ignorance about incinerators (including burning of RDF system) being net energy losers when the embodied energy of the materials burned is accounted for or it has been completely misled by some vested interests. MCD refuses to understand that recycling of waste materials saves three to five times the amount of energy, as incinerating these same materials would generate. For every ton of material destroyed by waste incineration, many more tons of raw materials must be mined, extracted, processed, or distributed to manufacture new products to take its place.

Several reports of the Government has sought exclusion of RDF, waste pelletisation and waste incineration from qualifying as renewable or sources of renewable energy, fuel, energy programs, and other related programs, regulations, legislation, and policies because of its contaminating effect. The reports of Planning Commission and Union Urban Development Ministry illustrate the need for non-burn technologies like composting given the fact that we are biomass deficit.

MCD has done well to revamp the operation of MCD composting plant in Okhla at a capacity of 200 tonnes per day (tpd). It is planning a new composting plant with a capacity of 600 tpd. Private operators are operating the Bhalaswa Compost plant at 500 tpd.

The operation of New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) compost plant is happening with 200 tpd after discussion with MCD and NDMC. A proposal to set up a compost plant in Okhla has been put forth to NMDC by the IL&FS. The project will be implemented through Public Private Partnership. The plant will solve NDMC's problem of cutting down the load from sanitary landfill sites. NDMC pays Rs 2 crore annually to use MCD's sanitary landfill sites for disposal of garbage in its area. MCD is providing financial and technical support for two local composting projects implemented by Resident Welfare Associations (RWA) and NGOs at neighborhood level.

Dass said, MCD is commissioning new sanitiary landfills at Jaithpur, Narela Bawana Road and Bhatti Mines on Design, Build and operate basis. MCD is working on the closure of existing three landfills and development of restoration projects.

Dass misled the workshop about MCD's proposal to build a landfill at Bhatti Mines by not informing that there is risk of contamination of water resources from leachate emissions. Also it lies in the vicinity of sensitive locations like Asola Wild Life sanctuary and two villages, Sanjay Nagr and Balbir Nagar.

Dass said, MCD has conducted workshops on segregation of waste. The fact is MCD has failed to encourage 'segregation at source' mandatory as per MSW Rules, 2000.

Dass claimed that MCD has taken initiatives to earn carbon credits through Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of Kyoto Protocol. It is dealing with Landfill Gas quantification from 3 landfill sites, the project note has been submitted to the World Bank and feasibility study funding approved with World Bank work started. MCD feels that trading of carbon credits would benefit approximately Rs 400 crores in next 20 years. The private sector can set up CDM capturing facilities.

What is astounding is the fact that the when world over use of incineration and combustion of RDF is discouraged due to its polluting nature, MCD is encouraging incineration technology. The claim of carbon credits is fraudulent because Waste Incineration is green house gas emitter as per Kyoto Protocol and therefore it cannot qualify as a CDM project.

Deepak Sanan of WSP chaired the session on “State Government Initiatives”, with panelists like A K Jain, IAS, All India Institute of Local Self Government (AIILSG), Ramkumar, Adviser (Environment and Energy), Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Finance Corporation (KUIDFC), Mahesh Singh, Joint Secretary, Urban Development, Gujarat Government.

On 14th July, D K Mittal, CEO, Special Infrastructure Projects, Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) and member, Supreme Court Committee on Waste to Energy with Dr A K Saxena, National Productivity Council as the co-chair, chaired the session on “Public-private Partnership and Business Opportunities”. The panelists were Anjan Das, Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) & S R Maley of Excel Industries.

T Prabhakaran, Director, Finance, HUDCO chaired the session on “Resource Generation and Financing”. The panelists were Dr. Vivek Kumar, The Energy Resources Institute (TERI), S.N. Jain of MGM International, S Mukherjee of Environment Information Centre and IL& FS Ecosmart India Limited.

The concluding us session was chaired by Dr Dilip Biswas, former chairperson, Central Pollution Control Board and Chairman, Supreme Court Committee on Waste to Energy. The panelists included A K Jain, AIILSG, Prof. Manoj Datta, N C Vasuki, Dr N B Majumdar, Dr A K Saxena, H Lanier Hickman and others.

A K Jain sought the attention of the participants towards the financial reforms underway for local bodies, which would provide fiscal power to them. Referring to examples from Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka, he stressed the need for minimization of waste, recycling of waste for employment generation, community contracting, micro-planning of the city and the division of the city between large waste generators and small waste generators. He called for use of CDM for composting.

Prof. Manoj Datta sought one week training at all levels from workers to officers on composting and waste to energy to ascertain whether it is possible with 40-45 % inert in the waste.

Majumadar referred to composting experiments in India since 1934. He stressed the need for quality assurance and grading of compost.

With regard to incinerators, one participant highlighted the inconsistency between different Union Ministries because Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources, MoEF and Ministry of Science and Technology promote it while Ministry of Commerce opposes its inclusion in the WTO list of Environmental Goods and Services.

It was pointed out to the workshop in the presence of the Chairman, Supreme Court Committee on Waste to Energy that D K Mittal is an interested party in the waste to energy project in Delhi therefore his membership to the Supreme Court Committee on Waste to Energy constituted by Union Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources (MNES) raises the issue of conflict of interest.

The statement of concern with regard to burn technologies was also made after Dr Biswas asked the workshop to be informed about the environment and health concerns emerging from it.

Dr Biswas acknowledged that AWM and DCSE has shared its concerns with him. He wondered as what comes first- the education or legislation- with regard to waste management. He underlined the need for a carrot and stick policy to deal with the problem.

There is no substitute to waste minimization, waste segregation; composting and recycling but mere lip service to these issues were deemed