Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
Notice (8): Undefined variable: urlPrefix [APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp, line 8]latest-news-updates/raxaulskala-paanisets-stage-for-showdown-by-shoumojit-banerjee-8074.html"/> LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Raxaul'skala-paanisets stage for showdown by Shoumojit Banerjee | Im4change.org
Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

Raxaul'skala-paanisets stage for showdown by Shoumojit Banerjee

Pantoka is a beehive of activity. The spirit of protest in this small hamlet on the India-Nepal border is not a simple case of topical environmental awakening; it is a desperate struggle for life in which more than 1 lakh lives are at stake.

Today, the first day of June, the citizens of Bihar's Raxaul sub-division in East Champaran district will stage a massive blockade on National Highway 28A, shutting off traffic from Nepal to India in protest against the neighbouring country's unrestrained dumping of industrial effluents by its leather, textile, steel and pharmaceutical factories.

The dumping ground is the Sariswa, the once fertile river known as Raxaul's lifeline, now rendered coal-black by incessant effluent-dumping. Moreover, the noxious smell of toxics in the river has made life unbearable in the 50-km radius through which the river meanders. So much so that the issue over Sariswa could well be the flashpoint for a chasm in relations between the two countries.

The river, a tributary of the Burhi-Gandak, originates from the dense Ramban forests in Nepal and zigzags through the sub-division, cutting through Baro and Parsa districts in Nepal and Raxaul.

A potent weapon for treatment of leprosy in the past, the river's water was known for its purity and medicinal vibrancy. Steady industrialisation in Nepal since 2000 has corrupted Sariswa completely. Once venerated as Raxaul's “life-healer,” its sobriquet has rapidly degenerated rapidly into the region's “life-stealer”.

“Black” Sariswa now brings with it high proportions of cadmium, arsenic, copper, sulphur, mercury and sundry other carcinogens.

The worst of the effluents are those emitted from the leather and textile factories set up in the Narayani region of Nepal, with large quantities of lethal sodium silicate unleashed by textile factories — the chief cause of the water's blackening.

“Thirty per cent of the cases that come to me are related to skin diseases,” says Dr. Amrender Kumar Singh who works at the district primary health centre.

Doctors point to the eczema epidemic in Raxaul and the surrounding villages on the banks of the Sariswa.Anil Kumar Sinha, a reader in botany, constituted the Sariswa Nadi Bachao Andolan (SNBA) in November last year. “Livestock are being killed by pollutants in the river,” says Mr. Sinha.

There have been at least 18 cancer and liver cirrhosis-related deaths in the Pantoka area in the past five years, with three deaths in the last month alone in Kali Nagari, which is situated right on the river's bank.

Little Flower Leprosy Hospital, a landmark in Raxaul, was established in 1981 by Father Chresto Dass for treating Bihar's leprosy patients and remains the State's largest hospital of its kind.

“Now nobody dares to venture into the water during festivals like Chhath. The river has turned into a vast poison-belt,” says Fr. Dass, reminiscing about days when his patients would once take bath in the pure river water for treatment of ulcers.

“My feet turn black when I attempt to sow paddy,” says Chhatri Rai, a farmer with a dwindling livestock.

Women in neighbouring Birgunj, headquarters of Nepal Parsa district, are even more highly strung as the river consists of industrial waste in an even higher concentration.

“When we wash our vegetables, we see death staring us in the face,” remarks a woman.

While lending support to the protesters, the issue of Sariswa's unprecedented pollution finds district authorities of Raxaul -- including the District Magistrate and the Sub-divisional Officer -- in a hapless situation. They merely state that the issue is essentially a bilateral problem between India and Nepal, with no action possible from their end.

An eight-member committee consisting of civil society members and authorities submitted a 25-page report to Parsa Chief District Officer Nagendra Jha on January 31. It recommended legal action against 46 industrial units, including seven leather factories, medicine manufacturing units, iron and steel factories and textile units. The report explicitly mentioned that Sariswa's pollution was in direct contravention to the provisions of Article 35(5) of State policies as stipulated in the interim constitution of Nepal, 2007.

The committee prescribed an extensive cleaning drive for the river from its origin to the India-Nepal border while recommending setting up of a joint waste treatment plant by the industrial units and strict monitoring of these units. “After the meeting, the CDO had promised swift action within a fortnight. But since his meeting with the industrialists no action is in evidence. None of the four effluent treatment plants for treating waste emitted by leather factories is in operation,” says Mr. Sinha. “This is the moment for action,” he adds, giving a final flourish to a protest banner.On December 6, over 5,000 citizens staged a protest march and sent letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Union Minister of Forests and Environment Jairam Ramesh and Nepal's President Ram Baran Yadav. But with an impending monsoon, any hopes of treating the river are likely to be dashed for another four months — making Raxaul's residents acutely aware of living on a ticking time bomb.