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@Ramya
Ramya V
@Ramya · 1:36

Heavy Metal : How a Global Corporation Poisoned Kodaikanal | Author Ameer Shahul in Conversation.

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The book chronicles in detail how civil action and activism led to the closure of the factory and also brought about awareness and the much needed changes in the system. Ameer recounts his personal experiences tracking down the events as a reporter and as a greenpeace campaigner, bringing in both anecdotal and documentary evidence of corporate negligence that led to untold devastation for people and environment in one of India's most fragile regions. And it's a delight to have him with me today in this conversation as we talk about his book

#authorinterview #askanauthor #environment #activism #Greenpeace #nonfiction

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@AmeerShahul
Ameer Shahul
@AmeerShahul · 2:51
And that's when I thought that someone should document it. And I initially thought that someone who was more involved than me in the campaign would document it. But when I found that there isn't any effort for documenting it from any other quarter, I decided to get onto it and start writing a book on that
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@Ramya
Ramya V
@Ramya · 0:26
Thank you so much for sharing that. Amir while the workers settlement, factory site cleanup and removal of hazardous waste have been carried out, many wider environmental issues remain unresolved. Decades after the factory closure, what are some of the issues that you feel have still not been adequately addressed? St
@AmeerShahul
Ameer Shahul
@AmeerShahul · 2:46
So that's something which actually could have impacted the health of the people who are residing in the locality and many of them are suffering from various illnesses which could be attributed to neurotoxicity or nephrotoxicity. So that's something which certainly needs to be addressed at some point in time, as quickly as possible. The second is the flora and fauna, the area which has been impacted beyond repair. It's a forest area, it's a very sensitive ecosystem
1
@Ramya
Ramya V
@Ramya · 0:24
In the book, you also talk about how lack of corroborative scientific studies on the impact of mercury toxicity on the flora and fauna of the region have led to delays in interventions and remediation of the contamination. Could you elaborate on this a little bit?
@AmeerShahul
Ameer Shahul
@AmeerShahul · 3:37
But I think at the end of the day, it's not the job of the independent researchers to come and do studies so that can be picked up by the regulators or by the government to corroborate the extent of pollution or extent of damage caused to the environment. So it's actually something that should have been commissioned by the regulators, by the government, by the system in place to assist the damage, assist the damage at each level
1
@Ramya
Ramya V
@Ramya · 0:48
You. Thank you for that. I'm also curious to know your thoughts on the soil remediation that's been undertaken by HUL at the site. I think the company was again under the scanner in 2021 for the felling of over 400 trees within the factory premises. That could have led to extensive soil mercury erosion into the Kodaikanal Wildlife Sanctuary and the Palmber Shola Stream. Do you think this exposes further lapses by Hel and other regulatory bodies while monitoring and carrying out the remediation of the contaminated site?
@AmeerShahul
Ameer Shahul
@AmeerShahul · 4:43
You know, the issue of remediation is the biggest issue remediation. You know, in in fact in 2003, 2004 period when the issue was at the peak, at the very peak in terms of the expose and in terms of the immediate after effects, the there was a proposal to remediate the factory site which was taken up by the regulator by the state pollution gun drop code. The contentious part was that standard of remediation
@Ramya
Ramya V
@Ramya · 0:20
Ah. I think I'll leave you with one final question. Amir, in your opinion, are the standard operating procedures for handling hazardous waste that are currently in place in the country adequate enough to prevent any future disasters of similar nature? I'm really curious to know your thoughts
@AmeerShahul
Ameer Shahul
@AmeerShahul · 2:22
Let me give you a brief answer. Ramya the hazardous waste rules have been there for many decades and by and large these rules have been sufficient. But the challenge was on the implementation. While the rules are there. It was a responsibility, responsibility of the regulator, the state pollution control board of each state to to strictly enforce that, implement that so that the unwanted chemicals don't fall into the wrong hands and it doesn't pollute the atmosphere wherever it emanates
@Ramya
Ramya V
@Ramya · 1:16

Deal of the day: Heavy Metal : How a Global Corporation Poisoned Kodaikanal https://amzn.eu/d/7SB8OVF

Also, I found the book to be unput downable. Thank you so much for writing it and for talking about it onswell, and I wish you the very best. For those of you listening in, I have included the books Amazon link in the description for you to check out, and if you do have any questions for Amir, please do leave them as a reply here. I'm sure he would be happy to take them on. Once again, thank you so much much for tuning in
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