In a hard-hitting letter written to Dr Sameer Sharma, chief secretary, GoAP, Dr EAS Sarma, former secretary, GOI, highlighted how the state government was giving short-shrift to the aspect of the security of the workers and pollution while allowing certain pharma companies. Following is the text of the letter.
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-Dr EAS Sarma
Both from the point of view of safety, as well as pollution, the Hetero Drugs unit near Nakkapalli in Visakhapatnam District, presents a standing example of how the State government has shamefully allowed it to endanger the workers’ lives and imperil the health of the people.
In the past, there were two major accidents at the unit, one in 2012-13 and another in 2016, in which 5 workers had lost their lives. The latest feather in the cap of this infamous unit is an accident that took place on the night of 23-2-2022, in which one person had lost his life and another four were grievously injured. This shows how the promoters of the industry, who seem to be in close nexus with the successive political leaderships, have callously been maintaining and running the unit, directly or indirectly responsible for killing the innocent workers and disrupting the livelihoods of their families.
Every time there is an accident, the State industrial directorates dealing with factory and boiler safety, come up with their postmortem accident investigation reports to mislead the people and forget about them within days, till the next accident takes place. The police too register FIRs but no one knows how and why the cases are closed, once public memory fades. The district administration too washes its hands off the accidents, as they lack any vision on tightening industrial safety in the district. Taking into account the series of accidents that took place at Hetero Drugs, Pharmacity, and other areas in the district, their total number has exceeded 40 and the lives lost has exceeded 40-50.
The AP Pollution Control Board (APPCB) too is equally callous. The people affected by pollution have had to seek intervention from the National Green Tribunal, as the State authorities have failed to enforce the rules and regulations.
To date, the promoters of Hetero Drugs have been allowed to go scot-free, not a single one being put behind the bars, compared to hundreds of undertrials accused of committing lesser crimes, are forced to languish in the jails for years together.
It is equally distressing to find that not a single senior officer of the Directorates of Factories and Boilers nor any senior officer of the APPCB has been proceeded against, which renders those that supervise them equally culpable.
What about the police cases registered and closed every time an accident takes place and lives are lost?
Are we living in a jungle raj, where laws can be wantonly flouted and innocent persons callously killed?
It is unfortunate that the State administration should allow the promoters of these unsafe industrial units to go unscathed, making the industrial environment of AP unsafe for the people. As a result of official negligence, Visakhapatnam district and several other districts have become havens for fatal accidents. One is never sure as to when and
where the next industrial accident will take place and how many unwary workers will be killed!
May I request you to take this with the necessary degree of seriousness and address the problem in a more earnest manner? Will the State administration book some of these influential promoters of unsafe industrial units and prosecute them for the crimes committed?