On January 1, the National Human Rights Commission asked the Centre to ban Endosulfan, the bug repellent whose use on cashew plantations in Kerala is linked to congenital abnormalities. But this is just one of many horror stories playing themselves out across India. Sunday Times profiles six locations that a government index acknowledges as critically polluted. In each, the locals live with poisoned air, water or food.
Read more: Are we poisoning - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-toi/special-report/Are-we-poisoning/Dust to dust
Parvati Chaudhary from Nakoda village lives just about a hundred metres from the local cement factory. Two weeks ago, her 50-year-old husband died of chronic respiratory distress. She alleges that "he suffered from asthma for over six years due to exposure to the dust from the plant." Chaudhary is party to a public interest litigation filed by her neighbour Samuel Sundar against the cement company for pollution caused by its new unit. Chandrapur goes into a brand new decade hacking and coughing from the effects of the past. It claims to suffer from many chronic ailments. The sharp-eyed — and what big business calls the troublemakers—say it's because the town is in a mineral-rich region. It is home to Maharashtra's only super thermal power station, coal and limestone mines and sponge iron and cement plants. Its air is so polluted a thick smog routinely reduces visibility to just a few feet every morning and evening. The factories say they're not to blame, it's the townsfolk themselves—every winter, almost every home burns coal in an open angeethi or local burner.
Read more: Are we poisoning - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-toi/special-report/Are-we-poisoning/articleshow/7244507.cms#ixzz1AWggTGOzarticleshow/7244507.cms#ixzz1AWgawGcg
