Activists demand emergency cells

The activists said they will file a petition against the Department of Industrial Health and Safety for their alleged causal approach while furnishing crucial information about safety measures and demand Chemical Emergency Cells in across the state.

Citing various cases of accidents that occurred over the last one decade in the chemical belts of the state,they said that of the 5,067 chemical units,433 are Major Accident Hazard (MAH) units.

“Our recent RTIs reveal that there is a duplicity in handling information about MAH by various organs of the Gujarat government. When the RTIs were sent,the Department of Industrial Safety and Health (DISH),which is supposed to prepare a chemical emergency plan,referred to the districts. While some districts had plans,the plans outlined in the districts within the chemical producing belt were missing as admitted by the officials in the RTI. This shows political will is lacking in solving the issues,” said Vadodara-based activist Rohit Prajapati.

“If that was not enough,the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests lifted the ban on expansion of chemical units in Vapi,one of the most critically polluted areas as per the reports of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB),” he added.

They further said that the RTI replies mentioned unwillingness on part of the pollution monitoring units,namely GPCB and CPCB,to give a list of the polluting industries in the state.

“If chemical emergency plans are not formed on uniform basis,we might soon have to observe Vapi Day or Ankleshwar Day (on the lines of Bhopal Day)” said another activist,Anand Mazgoankar.