Post on 04-Aug-2018
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CHAPTER IV
MAVOOR MOVEMENT:
A CRITICAL APPROACH
This chapter tries to explore the history of Mavoor movement
popularly known as Chaliyar movement with an intention to study the conflict
between the trade union and environmental movements in the area. This
analysis is made in a context where the left plays the decisive role in shaping
the course of action of these two social movements. The chapter is divided
into four parts. The first part presents a brief history of Mavoor Gwalior
Rayon Factory with a special focus on those controversial special incentives
given to this extraction industry. The second part unveils the environmental
impact of the new factory. Third part examines the rise of environmental
activism with a focus on organizations and individuals. Final part discusses
the role of left in shaping the history of the Chaliyar movement.
4.1 Introduction
There are two important factors, which seem to be relevant in the
establishment of Mavoor Gwalior Rayon’s Factory at Mavoor in the state of
Kerala - the worldwide modernist campaign that industrialization is the only
way to development, and the manipulation of government policies for
overriding the propaganda that the newly elected communist government in
Kerala would be anti capitalist. In spite of the Marxist reservations on
capitalist system and its development strategies, first Communist government
in Kerala headed by EMS Nambuthirippad decided to pursue the capitalist
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model of development rather intensely. In an Article published in connection
with the fiftieth anniversary of the first communist government in Kerala, S
Ramachandran Pilla, Senior leader of the CPIM argued that
“Industrialization through the private sector was one of the means by
which the backward economy of the resource starved state could be taken
forward…… if the government had been able to continue its work of
industrialization unhindered ….. Kerala and the people would have made
much progress in the production of material values” (Pillai, 2009).
His observation is mainly based on two arguments: firstly, the central
government was not willing to locate any major public sector industries in
Kerala and secondly, the financial resources of the state government were not
sufficient for starting new public sector undertakings. There was also a strong
propaganda that the labour management relations in Kerala with a communist
government in power would not be congenial. In short, the new Government’s
appraisal of the situation in the state of Kerala and consequent declaration of
industrial and Labour policies were capable enough to send the message that
unprecedented special assistance would be provided for setting up new
industries. While addressing the Silver Jubilee Celebrations of the All India
Trade Union Congress – Trade Union wing of the then undivided Communist
Party-in December 1957 at Irinjalikuda, EMS declared his government’s
attitude towards the role of private sector in the industrial development of the
state. He said, “Without the active cooperation of the management and
workers; without pooling together the resources of the state and private
individuals for retaining and expanding the existing industrial base; without
launching new industrial undertakings, the working class of the state has no
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redemption” (quoted in Prabhash, 2009). It was in this background G.D Birla,
the Indian big Capitalists came up with a proposal to establish a pulp-
producing factory in Kerala as a major leap towards industrial development.
After protracted negotiations, the Birla management and the
government of Kerala signed an agreement on 3 May 1958 as per which the
company ‘would set up a 100 tonne per day (TPD) Rayon grade pulp
manufacturing factory at Nilamure –Beypore area on the banks of river
Chaliyar in the district of Kozhikode’. The provisions incorporated in this
agreement particularly related to the mandatory supply of raw materials
constituted the determining factors that shaped the vicissitudes of this
industry. According to this, the Company would have the exclusive right and
License for a term of 20 years to fell and cut bamboo from the reserved
forests of the Nilambur valley. The Government has to Supply 1, 60,000
tonnes of bamboo every year as raw material to the factory, as observed by
an environmental activists, at a ‘throw away rate’ of Rs 1per tonne. Here it is
surprising to note that the rate of raw materials agreed four years ago between
the same Birla management and Vidhya Pradesh, presently Madhya Pradesh,
government was Rs 6.5 per tonne. The supplementary agreement signed on 6
August 1962 further expanded the felling area to the forest divisions of
Wayanad, Kozhikode, Palaghat and Nenmara. It also enhanced the quantity of
raw materials to 2 Lakh tonne per year. The most important provision of this
agreement was that the company shall have the right to extract additional
quantity of raw materials to meet the requirements as and when the plant
capacity is further expanded (Sreedhar, 2009)
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The factory started production in 1963 providing direct employment to
1840 workers and 350 office staff. The new fiber division further enhanced
the strength of labour force by adding 1000 workers and 250 office staff. As
the production increased year by year the volume of direct employment
increased to 5000 out of which around 1000 were reserve workers. In addition
to this, the chain of economic activity unleashed by the factory created more
than 10,000 employment opportunities in deferent parts of the state.
Meanwhile the management took a strategic decision to resort to contract
work, which gave birth to a class of contractors, a new group of stakeholders
whose mediatory role extensively strengthened the social base of the
company. Many works, which could be done by the reserve workers, was
hired out to contractors. It is alleged that many leaders irrespective of their
party affiliation benefitted from contract work and in turn helped the factory
management to mobilize public opinion in its favor (Mohan,1988).
President’s rule in 1965 happened to be a blessing for the factory.
V.V. Giri, the then Governor of Kerala was of the opinion that the company
should find out its own ways to meet the raw material requirements.
Therefore, his government (the State was under President’s rule) signed an
agreement on 14 July 1965 by which the company was accorded sanction for
the purchase of 30000 acres of private forestland from Malabar for utilizing
bamboo and to later raise eucalyptus plantations. The government also
assured that the land thus purchased would be exempted from acquisition.
Accordingly, the management purchased 30,000 acres of private forest in
Nilambur region for raising soft wood plantations (Sreedhar, 2000).
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The decisions of Achutha Menon government in relation to the Mavoor
factory attracted mixed response. On the one side, the environmental activists
held the view that the new government’s decisions were eco-friendly.
However, people like, K. Chathunny Master, former Marxist trade union
leader in Mavoor factory and MP from Kozhikode was of the opinion that the
attitude of the government towards the factory was detrimental (Chathunny
Master,1988). For instance, in 1971, in spite of the assurance given to the
company, the Government headed by C Achutha Menon nationalized all
private forest in the state including the 30000 acres of land in Nilambur
Valley possessed by the company. The objection raised by the Birla ended
when the supreme court of India upheld the Government’s decision. In
addition to this, the government also enforced certain regulatory measures to
monitor the extraction of forest resources by the factory. The supplementary
agreement signed on 20 November 1976 provided for a comprehensive set of
rules and regulations for allotting felling areas, issuing pass, recording of
measurements, weights, accounting, fire protection measure etc. Here it is to
be admitted that, as result of these decisions, the raw material became scarce
and costly as compared to the earlier period. It may be noted that, there are
considerable number of respondents who believe that these decisions of the
Achutha Menon government constitute one of the main reasons for the
decline of the industry and its final closure in 1999.
The workers of the factory went on an indefinite strike in 1985 based
on a set of demands. Renewal of the long-term wage agreement, abolition of
the contract system, distribution of due bonus etc were the major demands.
The management retaliated to the strike by closing down the factory and this
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closure continued for a period of 39 months. Largely, with the help of mass
media the management successfully propagated that the indiscipline among
the workers and the scarcity and the hike in the royalty rate of the raw
materials were the main reasons for the closure of the factory. In this
connection, it also published the details of loss incurred by the company from
the financial year 1982-83 onwards. As the closure went on indefinitely
leaving untold hardship to the families of employees, 13 workers committed
suicide making the situation more complicated. Gradually, the indefinite
strike, which was launched against the management for a better salary and
emoluments transformed into a mass movement with a single demand -
reopen the factory and save the workers from starvation. This unusual shift in
the history of working class struggle in Mavoor raised a series of questions
with regard to the nature and role of trade union movement in Kerala. Finally,
the factory was reopened in 1989 based on an agreement between the
management and workers. For the workers who had no other choice other
than to agree with the conditions laid down by the management, the new
agreement was nothing but a complete surrender.
4.2 Environmental Impact
While hearing a petition filed by the Grasim industries seeking orders
for repairing the damaged pipeline to Chungappally, Justice Narendran
observed, “The banks of Chaliyar, once a health resort, have virtually become
a hell on earth. At least for one decade the people there are suffering. The
petitioner company has liberally contributed to this. If the state government
and the Kerala State Pollution Control Board for prevention and control of
water pollution had taken effective steps, this could have been prevented long
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ago” (Surendranath, 2000). It is an undisputed fact that the government while
allowing the factory to locate in a sensitive area paid little attention to its
environmental consequences. As the production went on it unleashed a series
of drastic issues upsetting the natural environment not only in the locality but
also in a considerably wider area. This impact mainly falls under four
categories such as air pollution, water pollution, deforestation and finally the
cultural shift.
4.2.1 Water Pollution
Industries in India were set up widely on the banks of rivers because of
three main reasons; the chances of exploiting large volume of water usually at
free of cost , possibilities of water transportation mainly for bringing raw
materials and finally the relatively easy discharge of industrial waste (
Achuthan, 1979). As a result of this, rightly observed by A.V Thamarakshan,
the chairman of the Kerala Legislative assembly committee on environment,
“the river systems are in real danger of being irrecoverably polluted due to
heavy discharge of industrial effluents” (Korakandy 2009). All these
industrial waste are toxic to life forms that consume this water. This could
harm the liver, kidneys, reproductive system, respiratory system or the
nervous system (Prasad and Gaur(ed), 1992). The history of the Gwalior
rayon factory at Mavoor tells us the same story of irrational and unscientific
discharging of toxic effluents into river Chaliyar. The mountain streams
originated from the bamboo forest of Elampalaari hills in Nilambur Valley,
joined with streams like Neerppuzha, Karimbuzha, Kuravanpuzha,
Vadapuram puzha Urngattiri puzha, Pookkuda puzha, and Eruvazhinjapuzha,
the river Chaliyar forms one of the wealthiest rivers in the state of Kerala. It
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has a total river basin of 2923 Sqr. Kms. Its total length is 168 Km. Nearly 2
Lakh people use this river for different purposes.
The Pulp division produced about 4800 tones of Rayon Grade pulp and
270 tons of paper per month. In the Staple Fiber division about 2130 tonnes of
Viscose Staple Fiber, 1355 tonnes of sodium sulfate, 2100 tonnes of sulfuric
acid and 373 tones of Carbon disulphide were produced per month. The raw
materials used in the Pulp division were mainly bamboo, eucalyptus and other
wood amounting of 16,224 tonnes per month and inorganic chemicals such as
salt cake, caustic soda, lime shell, chlorine, sodium chlorate, sulfuric acid,
alum, sodium silicate etc. For both the units, the raw water was drawn from
the river Chaliyar that is flowing nearby the factory. Daily wastewater
generation was about 40000 m3 of effluent from both the units together.
As soon as the production started in 1963, the untreated effluents let
out into the river Chaliyar at Kalpally, 1.6 Km downstream. As a result, the
once-clear river turned black and the pollutants wiped out its aquatic life
within no time. The study conducted by the University of Calicut, in
association with the Department of Science and Technology, revealed that the
content of lead, mercury and chromium in the river water were far above the
tolerable limits (Babu, 2008). It also pointed out that the Chemical Oxygen
demand (COD) values and a good number of biochemical Oxygen Demand
(BOD) values were well above the permissible limits. The presence of lead, a
highly toxic metal was shocking. Its highest rate was 2.613ppm, much higher
than the permissible rate of 0.05 ppm. The highest value obtained for mercury
was 2.810 ppm where as its permissible limit was 0.002 ppm. (Seethi , 2000).
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The water pollution in Mavoor had a selective nature in the sense that
the management tactfully constructed a bund at Elamaram, dividing the river
into two entirely different quality zones; keeping the upper side non polluted
as a reservoir for unrestricted supply of clean water for the factory, where as
the downstream remained drastically polluted with toxic effluents. SreeDevi
Pillai, a documentary maker on river Chaliyar found two purposes in it;
firstly, it enabled the management to extract clean water for the factory
directly from the reservoir and secondly it was used to diffuse the mounting
pressure on the management from Vazhakkad area for a more effective
pollution control system. It was a fact that the proposal of a permanent
regulator cum bridge across the river Chaliyar sponsored by the factory
management did dilute the intensity of the anti factory agitations from
Vazhakkad area. K A Rahman, former president of Vazhakkad Panchayath
and the veteran leader of Chaliyar movement himself had regretted for being
attracted to the proposal and for diffusing the movement so as to see the
Kavanakallu regulator cum Bridge a reality ( Cheruvadi ,1997).
The Ramanilayam agreement which was described as the ‘most
unscientific and illogical solution one can think of to solve the problem of
river water pollution’ (KSSP, 1974), added another dark chapter in the history
of Chaliyar movement. The agreement signed on 16 December 1974 proposed
to shift the effluent discharging point to Chungappally, seven kms further
downstream. This agreement in turn accorded legitimacy to the practice of
effluent discharge into river water, that too in the presence of officials from
the Kerala State Pollution Control Board ( Nellikkode,1996).
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The extended effluent pipeline to Chungappally was commissioned in
the year 1980. However, it was a poor job, leaking effluent throughout its
length, and the effluent was more toxic now because wastewater treatment
had been almost stopped. The safety valves on the pipeline also did not work
properly. It was in this background people of Chungappally started agitations
and damaged the newly commissioned effluent pipeline, which further
intensified the issue of water pollution. Toxic wastewater spread to paddy
fields, wells and water tanks. In order to overcome the new crisis the factory
management resorted to open up the old outlet at Kalpally and started
discharging the effluents irrationally. In addition to this it also opened up
several unauthorized outlets ‘virtually making banks of Chaliyar a hell on
earth’ ( Narendran,1982)
4.2.2 Air pollution
WHO defines air pollution as a “situation in which outdoor atmosphere
contains materials in concentrations which are harmful to people or their
environment”( First Citizen’s report 1982). In the context of Mavoor, this
definition seems to be incomplete. The commencement of production at the
staple fiber division of GRASIM industries caused unprecedented air
pollution in and around the factory. It caused emission of carcinogenic toxic
gases like Carbon disulphide, Sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide far beyond
the permissible levels. These gases mainly moved towards south east side of
the factory and the fog thus formed almost swallowed the nearby villages
(Ward 5, 8 and 4) of Vazhakkad Panchayath causing a series of chronic
deceases like asthma, chronic bronchitis, cerebra vascular accidents, heart
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attacks, reproductive system disorders, malformation of babies, renal stones in
children.
There were stories of unnatural deaths from the affected areas of
Vazhakkad Panchayath but were not officially recorded as the impact of
pollution. However, activists like K A Raham argued that environmental
degradation due to the new factory was serious enough to cause causality.
According to local people the death of Thekkethody Moyeen , Madathinkal
Kandan and Ayisumma all residents of affected villages was due to
respiratory deceases caused by air pollution. People like Ondeli and Kuttar
who were living in the visionary of the factory completely lost their health.
Around 250 inmates of the local Orphanage and children in the Govt Lower
Primary School at Elamaram were put in peril by piousness gases. It was
extremely difficult to find out a household free from deceases. (Cheruvady,
1979).
Out of several serious attempts to study the problem of air pollution in
Vazhakkad and nearby villages, the findings of the health survey organized by
Vazhakkad Grama Panchayath in 1994 were shocking. It revealed that in the
five years prior to it, 199 persons had died of cancer within the Panchayath
area. At the time of the survey there were 69 cancer patients in the survey, in
addition to 59 heart patients, 176 TB patients 134 with Astma,117 with
ulcer,50 persons suffering from kidney problems 129 epilepsy, 75 mentally
retarded persons, 82 with skin deceases ,5144 persons with sight deficiency
and 214 diabetic patients ( Nath ,1999). Dr.C Sadasivan Pilla, has cited, the
findings of an MD thesis that there was a high incidence of cancer and other
afflictions in the vulnerable areas.
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The Mavoor Gas tragedy of 1995 totally rejected the argument of the
factory management that the story of air pollution is exaggerated
(Madyamam, 1996). A group of workers who were repairing one of the safety
valves were exposed to hydrogen sulfide, and three of them Pulappady
Alikkutty, Kanhirandi Mamukkoya and Kunnummal Ramakrishnan died of
suffocation. Two others T Mohanan from Thalssery and Husain from
Muthuvallure were also seriously injured. This incident undoubtedly proved
that the toxic gases discharged by the factory are highly dangerous and the
chances of a wide spread leakage may cause a disaster as happened in Bhopal.
Another such incident happened in 1999 at Mananthalakkadav near the
Fibre Division. Ten residents of the area including three children were
hospitalized for breathing difficulties due to exposure to toxic gases from the
factory. Madathil Khadeeja, a victim of the incident reported that high-
density smoke rushed into their houses causing severe headache followed by
breathing difficulties and restlessness. According to Ahemmad Moideen, the
senior environmental engineer from the Pollution Control Board who
inspected the factory and its premises the next day of the incident, it was
sulfur dioxide came out from the carbon disulfide plant created the problem.
It happened when a flap in the safety valve broke in high pressure. If the flap
had not broken at that time, it would have caused a blast (Malayala
Manorama, 1999).
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4.2.3 Deforestation
Srredhar. R, environmental activist associated with Thanal
Conservation Action and information Network, Thiruvananthapuram has
made a serious attempt to explore the damage caused by GRASIM industries,
Mavoor on our forests and Wild life. As an expression of solidarity with the
Chaliyar movement, he paid a visit to Mavoor and came to know about the
anti ecological nature of 1958’s agreement between the government of Kerala
and the Birla regarding the supply of bamboo and eucalyptus. Gradually he
started a research, which finally resulted in the publication of the work
‘GRASIM Since 1963, The Burden on our heads’ (2000). This work gives us
a detailed story of how the forest resources were exploited by the
management.
4.2.4 Bamboo Felling
As soon as the Grasim started collection operations in areas fully
reserved, leased and licensed to them in the Nilambur valley as per the
original agreement of 1958, they realized that bamboo in their area alone
would never meet their demands. It was in this background the management
decided to sponsor a bamboo survey of the Malabar region. A team of ten
newly recruited range officers under the leadership of M S Nair, Assistant
conservator of Forest concluded that the Bamboo stock in Malabar forest
would fully deplete if such exploitation continued. Interestingly the
management tactfully used the findings of the study for a further expansion
of the felling areas to Wayanad, Kozhikkode, Palakkad and Nenmara
Divisons. This proposal was approved by the supplementary agreement of
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1962. Later this was expanded to all most all forest divisions in Kerala. It was
in this background the Grasim Industries Mavoor was licensed to collect large
volume of bamboo from Kerala forest that too from almost all forest
divisions. The following table gives us the details of Bamboo felling by this
factory during the period 1962-1998.
Table 4.2.4.1: The details of Bamboo felling during 1962-98 period
Period Average Consumption
Per Year in ton Special Rates for Grasim
1962-74 2,00,000 Rs.1/tone
1974=84 60000 Rs.18/tone
1984-86 4858 Rs.18/tone
1988-1998 1,97,500 Varied rates from
Rs.250/ton(1988) to Rs.463/ton(1998)
Source: Sreedhar, 2000
In addition to this, there were no clear rules and regulations for
allotment, felling, collection, recording, auditing and verification process on
the bamboo given to Grasim for a long period of 18 years. It was in 1976, the
Achutha Menon government for the first time formulated certain specific
rules and regulations in this regard. By this time, the contract and additional
contract areas had been wiped out causing a massive denudation of the
bamboo forest. These areas were converted to eucalyptus plantation
destroying the bio diversity of our natural forest. The soil in bamboo forests,
it is pointed out, has high organic carbon content and excellent litter
decomposition due to the diversity of organisms in the soil. The soil nutrients
were found to be richer and the chances of erosion very less in bamboo forest.
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All these in turn affected the water and soil as life supporting resources and
the river systems.
4.2.5 Forest fire
The irrational, massive and unscientific bamboo felling was followed
by the frequent reports of forest fire from divisions allotted to the Grasim
industries. This resulted in the destruction of thousands of acres of forest
resources all over Kerala. It is noteworthy to mention that there were no such
types of reports of massive forest fire during the period 1946-1963. It was
after the intense intrusion of company into the forests in Kerala it became
vulnerable to serious wild fires. There are two major arguments explaining the
reasons for this kind of an environmental disaster. Firstly, there were no rules
and regulations for the extraction of bamboo from the forest. This allowed the
contractors and workers of the company to manage the forest resources in
such a careless manner. Second argument is that the company itself for
creating an artifcial shortage of raw material set the bamboo yards to fire. The
loss in fire was exaggerated and was used to bargain for the allotment of
additional felling areas. It is a fact that the supplementary agreements signed
between the government of Kerala and the factory Management did serve this
purpose and the catchment area was expanded to all most all divisions in the
state of Kerala.
4.2.6 Monoculture
Another unfortunate development in connection with the Grasim
industries was the misuse of the concept of scientific preservation for raising
eucalyptus plantations. As the stock of bamboo depleted, the factory
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management started to consume pulpwood and eucalyptus as the most viable
substitute for bamboo. During the period 1974 -84 the average consumption
of eucalyptus per year increased to 1, 60,000 tons per year which formed
nearly 75% of the total raw material consumption during the same period. It
was in this context we look upon the changes in the forestation policies of the
government(Sreedhar,2000).
It was with the second five-year plan the allocation for eucalyptus and
other pulpwood tree species began to crease rapidly. 30 to 40 % of plan
expenditure for forestation during the period 1956 to 1978 was allotted to
raise these types of trees. More over the social forestry programme was
almost hijacked for the sole purpose of pulpwood plantations. Even excellent
rain forest areas in Western Ghats region were cleared to put up these
plantations. As a result, the total area of eucalyptus plantations recorded a
rapid increase .(see the table)
Table 4.2.6.1: Details of Eucalyptus plantation during 1955-1998 periods
Year Plantation Area
(in hectare) 1955 00 1960 266 1965 6059 1970 21961 1975 31149 1980 30898 1985 31634 1990 31609 1995 28900 1998 29459
Source: Administrative Report of Kerala Forest Department (Sridhar, 2000)
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This transformation of natural forest areas into monoculture
plantations, that too with exotic species unsuitable for the natural environment
of Kerala, produced far-reaching results. The changes in the ecology has led
to the emergence of many pests and diseases.(The first citizen’s report
1982).Eucalyptus is described as a ‘ecological terrorist’ as it tends to lower
the water table. The process of clear felling caused irrecoverable damages on
the bio diversity of the tropical rain forest areas of Western Ghats making it a
man made desert (Gadgil & Guha,1997). The governments in India, which
was preoccupied with the modernist perceptions on industrial development
openly promoted pulp wood monoculture plantations. The committee on
Natural resources of Planning commission, government of India had
conducted a study on “forest raw materials for pulp & news print” in 1965.
This study concluded that “sufficient quantities of bamboo, at a reasonable
cost will not be available on a sustained basis for putting up any long fiber
pulp mill in the public sector in this area( at the tri junction of the three states
,Mysore ,Madras and Kerala). However if plantations of eucalyptus continue
to be made on a large scale, it should be possible to meet the requirements of
a 300 ton/day short fiber mill in the area” (Sreedhar , 2000)
4.2.7 Grasim and wildlife
The operations of Grasim management inside the forest also resulted in
large-scale assault on wild life. The forest divisions allotted for the collection
of raw materials were environmentally sensitive areas in the sense that they
were the natural habitats of several endangered species of wild life. For
example, the Wayanad wild life sanctuary, the Muthumalai Wild Life
Sanctuary and the Bandipur and Nagarhole National Parks constitute a single
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conservation unit in the Deccan plateau. The extensive Bamboo felling
operations in Wayanad forest division seriously affected the wild life of these
sanctuaries. The bamboo rich eco-system of Wayanad, which was a homeland
of elephants and other herbivores all of a sudden, converted into a place of
graveyard of wild life. Elephant came out to the open farms, homesteads and
human settlement areas in search of food and water. This led to frequent
conflict between the wild life and the human beings. In addition to this, the
company-sponsored intruders hunted wild animals for food. N Bhadusha ,
founder member of the Wayanad Nature Conservation Society observes
“most of the wild elephant deaths in Wayanad was due to multiple and fatal
bullet injuries on its body”(Ibid).
4.2.8. The cultural shift
The Grasim industries have made a remarkable change in the work
culture not only in the local region but also in a relatively wider area. On the
one side it resulted in migration of people from other parts of the state to the
Mavoor area and the formation of a new class of industrial workers with a
modernist orientation. On the other side the operations of the factory inflicted
serious changes in the work culture of the local people and thousands of
traditional workers, mainly bamboo workers, living in and around the bamboo
felling areas. According to one estimate nearly four lakhs, population working
in the traditional bamboo related industrial sector was thrown out of their
jobless. The massive and monopolistic collection of bamboo became a
irrecoverable shock to thousands of house hold units which were producing
eco friendly items like baskets and mats abundantly at a cheap rate. As a
result, these products became rare and costly.
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Transformation of natural forests into monoculture plantations also had
negative cultural impact. The naturally protected cultural system of the tribes
in the forest area faced serious setbacks over the course of time. The
sustainable life style of the Adivasis, based on the richness of the natural
forest, underwent basic changes. Their little huts were made mainly using
reeds and leaves of bamboo. Their food culture was also unique. Tuber, fruits,
berries, bamboo shoots collected from the forest were nutritious enough to
make them healthy. The forest and environment policies formulated under
the undue influence of commercial interests in turn denied the Adivasies their
fundamental right to life. It even denied access to minor forest produce.
4.3. Environmental Activism in Mavoor
The uniqueness of the Chaliyar movement, as in the case of similar
movements in the third world, was that it was a down to earth type; an
expression of the feelings of the victims. As the production went on massive
volumes of pollutants were discharged into the river Chaliyar at Kalpally. As
mentioned earlier the local people all of a sudden realized that the river,
which was an indispensible part of their cultural life, would succumb to a
premature death if the issue of pollution is not properly dealt with. Looking at
dead fish float on the river K A Rahman, the leader of the movement reacted
“from day one we felt betrayed” (Surendranath, 1999). In 1964, the very next
year of commencement of production, the restlessness on the banks of
Chaliyar finally culminated in the form of a protest march to the company
office which turned violent causing damages on the compound wall and
administrative office. This was followed by a conciliation talk in the presence
of district collector in which the management agreed to discharge the
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effluents directly into the sea for which it would lay 20 Km long pipeline by
1966. In addition to this, it would help the local people for digging new wells
as an alternative source for water supply. However, neither the management
nor the government did anything to implement these decisions. Gradually, the
struggle, which is recorded as the first case of environmental activism in
Kerala, came to a natural death when the management came to absorb the
main organizers of the historic march as their employees.
Hundreds of traditional fishermen who were living on the banks of
river Chaliyar were thrown out of their work. As the mainstream trade unions
and political organizations continued their negligence towards this issue, in
1965, Mayeen Kutty Master tried to organize these traditional workers. He
formed a union called Chaliyar Kakka Malsya Thozhilali Union to register
their protests. However they could not achieve anything significantly (Shukur,
2009).
The interim elections held in 1967 happened to be an opportunity for
the local people to articulate their interest in a more effective manner. There
were two assembly constituencies; Beypoor and Kondotti with a concern over
the new factory. The CPIM and Muslim League, which had significant
influence in these constituencies, were in alliance and hence placed C
Chathunny Master and Said Ummer Baffaki Thangal as their common
candidates from these two constituencies respectively. The Pollution from
Grasim industries emerged as the main issue in the election campaigning. A
delegation of the victims under the leadership of K A Rahman briefed the
candidates while they were attending a combined election meeting at
Vazhakkad. This resulted in an open declaration by the candidates that they
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would try their best to find out a permanent solution to the problem. The
seven party alliance led by CPIM came to power and EMS Nambuthirippad
once again sworn in as the chief minister of the state. For the Grasim
Industries the election result was something pleasant because the same
Government which promoted them returned to power. As the pollution went
on bringing untold hardships to the local people, the two MLAs were forced
to lead a protest march against polluter, which finally resulted in the
government decision to appoint a committee to study the pollution problem in
Mavoor. It took long four years to submit a report (1972). There were serious
allegations that this committee was fully under the control of the factory
management ( Cheruvady, 1997). Anyway, the report proposed for the setting
up an Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) and entrust the job with National
Environment Engineering Research Institute (NEERI).
Meanwhile, K A Rahman convened a meeting of the heads of local
self governments in the region and formed a committee by the name Chaliyar
Jala Vayu Shundheekarana Committee. B. P Unnyayin, the president of the
Mukkam Grama Panchayath and K A Rahman, the president of Vazhakkad
Panchayath were elected as the chairman and Secretary of the committee
respectively. This incident was significant as the first step towards broadening
the support base of the Chaliyar movement(Shukur,2009).
4.3.1 Demolition of Elamaram Bund
The bund constructed by the company at Elamaram across the river
Chaliyar remained as an object of public protest during the period 1973-80.
It (Elamaram Bund) prevented contaminated water reaching the water intake
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points of the company, particularly during the high tide period. As the effluent
discharging outlets were opened beneath the bund the company was able to
extract large quantity of clean water for meeting its various industrial and
other requirements. The water supply to Calicut city was also from the same
pumping station. Whereas, the downstream remained polluted with toxic
effluents and looked just like a ‘cesspool of stinking black soupy concoction’
(Surendranath, 1999). The construction of the bund which was repeated
every year gradually developed into an object of severe criticism by the local
people for whom the polluter factory had no right for clean water that too
from the river Chaliyar. On 26 November 1973, villagers in Vazhakkad and
nearby areas voluntarily closed their educational institutions, shops and work
centers. People in large numbers moved to Elamaram and demolished the
bund. The police force led by Malappuram and Calicut district Police
superintendents could do anything to stop the mob. Wastewater rushed in to
the pumping area upsetting the water supply system of both Calicut city and
the Grasim Industries. This incident indeed exposed the vigor of the
movement to launch direct action. The same kind of agitation was repeated in
the years 1974 and 1978.
It is interesting to note that the environmental activism in Mavoor went
on even during the period of National Emergency (1975-77), in spite of the
serious differences opinion with regard to the course of social action. The
extremist group within the movement formed Chaliyar Liberation
organization (CLO) and launched direct action against the company
disregarding the emergency. Propaganda was strong that CLO would resort to
violence. It was a fact that secret night meetings were frequent in the area
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during this period, whereas the pacifist group who were working as the
volunteers of Elamaram Bund destruction squad abstained from direct
action.
4.3.2 Chaliyar Malinnekarana Virudha Samithi
The Ramanilayam agreement, the immediate result of the Elamaram
strike held in 1974, has special relevance in the history of Chaliyar
movement. The meeting of the representatives of the action committee,
factory management and Kerala State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) held
on 16 December 1974 at Thrissur Ramanilayam Guest house came up certain
specific proposals for resolving the pollution problem. Firstly it was agreed to
construct an effluent treatment plant and to shift the Elamaram bund to
Chungappally, 7.5 Kms further downstream. The agreement also proposed to
follow the directions of KSPCB while shifting the effluent discharging outlets
to a convenient point. The company would lay pipeline to the outlet point in
order to ensure a safe discharge of effluents. Finally, measures would be taken
to convert the temporary bund into a permanent Regulator cum Bridge across
river Chaliyar connecting Malappuram and Kozhikode Districts.
Ramanilayam agreement virtually divided the Chaliyar movement into
two opposing groups. The people of Vazhakkad area supported the
Ramanilayam agreement mainly for two reasons. Firstly, the proposal to
construct a permanent regulator cum bridge would find a solution to their long
pending demand for a shorter connectivity to Calicut Town. Secondly, the
decision to shift the effluent discharging outlets below the newly proposed
bund at Chungappally would keep their side of the river clean. However, the
102
proposal to shift the effluent discharging outlets to Chungappally was not
acceptable to the people in Kayalam area. Therefore, they strongly opposed
the idea of extending the pipeline to Chungappally. This protest led to the
formation a new action committee called Chaliyar Malinnekarana Virudha
Samithi (CMVS) under the leadership of P K M Chekku. The CMVS
organized a series of agitations against water and air pollution in Kayalam
area, which constitute a main part of the Chaliyar movement.
The first agitation in this connection was against the move to construct
open canals instead of laying pipeline for discharging effluents. This was a
violation of the provisions of Ramanilayam Agreement, in which the
management had agreed to lay pipeline from the factory to discharging outlet
at Chungappally. Because of the agitations, the management dropped the idea
of open canals and agreed to lay pipeline up to Chungappally. However, the
pipeline work was carried out in an unscientific manner. Hence, as soon as it
was commissioned, the collar joints connecting the hue pipes got damaged
causing leakage of toxic effluents and gases. As agitations went on the
management agreed to replace hue pipes with Primo pipes. Still, the gas
leakages through the air valves continued and the company management all of
a sudden abandoned the air valves, which led to blowing up of the pipes and
wider leakages of effluents. . The angry mob damaged the pipeline at several
places, which further intensified the spreading of toxic effluents into paddy
fields, water tanks and wells. Moreover, the agitators prevented the company
technicians from repairing the damaged pipelines. Finally, the company
management could repair the pipeline with police protection that too as per
the order from Kerala high court. The CMVS continued its protest until 1998,
103
when it was dissolved for the formation of a common platform for all those
activists in Mavoor.
4.3.3. Darussalam Declaration
The 39-month long closure of the factory due to labour management
disputes during the period 1985-89 totally changed the situations in Mavoor.
As the closure went on and 13 workers committed suicide the miseries of the
working class became the main concern of public. The mass movement
demanding the immediate reopening of the factory at any cost, in turn caused
a realignment of the social forces in favor of the management. The reopened
factory unleashed unparalleled pollution in such a dangerous fashion. The
effluent treatment plant, the most important mechanism for pollution control,
virtually broke down due to lack of proper maintenance. The level of air
pollution particularly in Vazhakkad region reached far above the permissible
limits making normal life extremely difficult. The results of the health survey
conducted by Vazhakkad Panchayath in 1994(November 22-30) was
alarming. It was found that 199 people died of cancer within the Panchayath
area in the five years prior to the survey (Ullath, 2009). The company records
had also endorsed the findings of the survey. As per the records kept in the
company office, Out of 100 workers died during the period 1989-95, 20 were
because of cancer. Meanwhile the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC),
Thiruvanathapuram conducted a cancer detection camp at Vazhakkad
(Madhyamam, 1996). The death of three workers on 23 January 1995 due to
acute exposure to toxic gases made the situation deplorable.
It was in this background that the historic meeting of the Chaliyar
104
Samyuktha Samara Samithi was convened on 26 November 1996 at
Darussalam Arabic College, Vazhakkad. It reviewed the achievements of the
prolonged struggle for an effective pollution control system for Grasim
Industries to protect their natural environment from industrial pollution. The
meeting concluded that the hitherto agitations was not a success in bringing
any remarkable change in the attitude of the factory management towards the
issue of pollution. Therefore, the meeting decided to give up its 30-year-old
demand for an effective pollution control system and adopted the slogan
“Close Down Grasim”. This declaration (Darussalam Declaration) became a
landmark in the history of Chaliyar movement, as it was a curtain raiser of
series of demonstrations across the state. The World Human Rights Day in
1997(10 December), witnessed a massive demonstration in front of the
factory gate shouting slogans against the factory management. When the
leadership of the mainstream political parties abstained from the agitation,
people from different parts of the state irrespective of their party affiliation
actively participated. K A Rahman, leader of the Chaliyar movement
inaugurated the public meeting. Social activists like Mukundan C Menon,
Adv. P A Pouran, Nazurudheen Elamaram, PKN Chekku, K A Khader, K P
Iqbal, E. N Peethanbaran Master, A M Ahemmedkutty and N Ahemmad
addressed the gathering. (Malayala Manorama, 1997).Similar demonstration
was staged in many other parts of the state.
Realizing the need for strengthening the movement, it was decided to
reorganize the existing action committee. Hence, a meeting of likeminded
individuals and action groups was convened in December 1998 at Akkode
.The meeting also intended to overcome the regional conflict within the
105
movement. After a detailed discussion, it was agreed to launch a common
platform for all. Thus, Chaliyar Samara Samithi was formed with Dr. K V
Hameed as Chairman and P K M Chekku as the General Convener. .
4.3.4 Relay Hunger Strike
The death of K A Rahman was another important event which directly
influenced the nature of Chaliyar movement. On 11 January 1999, Waging a
crusade for 35 years against Grasim Industries, he succumbed to cancer the
very evil he had been fighting against all these years. His death became a
sudden reason for the relay hunger strike started on 26 January 1999.
Environmental activists and other social workers from different parts of
country joined the struggle making it unique in the history of environmental
activism in Kerala. As the hunger strike went on the action committee was
reorganized as Chaliyar Samara Ekopana Samithi in order to give
representation to various non-governmental organizations that had extended
support to the Chaliyar struggle. The relay hunger strike continued until the
final closure of the factory on 10 October 1999(Shukur,2009).
4.4 The Main Stream Left and Chaliyar Movement
The attitude of the main stream left towards the Chaliyar movement
received serious criticism from the civil society. This was mainly based on
two aspects firstly those liberal policies of the left governments which helped
the Grasim management to exploit the natural resources in such an
unscientific and irrational manner and secondly their hostile attitude towards
the environmental protection movements in Mavoor. However, the KSSP, an
NGO dominated by leftist deserves special reference for its decisive role in
106
exposing the environmental damages caused by the Grasim industries and for
a proactive approach in resolving the regional conflicts within the Chaliyar
movement.
As pointed earlier, the main stream left in Kerala, whenever it came to
power, had followed an investment friendly approach to the new development
projects. For instance, while addressing a meeting of AITUC, the trade union
wing of the undivided communist party held at Irinjalikuda in 1957, EMS
Nambuthirippad, the chief minister of the first communist government made
an important comment on his government’s policies towards development. He
said,
“Without the active cooperation of the management and workers,
without pooling together the resources of the state and private individuals for
retaining and expanding the existing industrial base, without launching new
industrial undertakings, the working class of the state has no redemption.”
(Tom,1989)
It was a fact that the first communist government in Kerala was under
the influence of modernist perception on development. In spite of the
ideological difference with the capitalist system, industrialization through
private investment that too by big capitalist was accepted as one of the means
of economic development. Gradually this was approved as an official policy
of the mainstream left in Kerala. Consider the following observation by S
Ramachandran Pillai, the Senior Polit Bureau Member of CPIM in connection
with the celebrations of 50th anniversary of the first elected communist
government in Kerala. To quote him,
107
“The communist had no previous experience of running a state
government in India…… The state government was of course constrained to
work within the frame work of the constitution of India and the policies
pursued by an antagonistic central government ………..The effort to develop
industries in Kerala was a very difficult task due to various reasons. The
central government refused to locate any major public sector industries in
Kerala. The state government did not have adequate financial resources to
start public sector undertakings. The only alternative, therefore, was to
encourage private industrialists to start new industries. There were difficulties
in attracting entrepreneurs from outside the state, as there was incessant
propaganda that with a communist government in Kerala the employer-
employee relations would not be congenial for establishing industries. The
communists’ government had to take determined steps to come out of these
difficulties. It made public pronouncements that assistance would be provided
for setting up new industries with healthy employer- employee relations….
One of the large units to be started was under the ownership and management
of G. D Birla. The unit provided employment to nearly 15000 people together
with the trade and other subsidiary occupations. Though the central
committee of the party (CPIM) subsequently noted some defects in the terms
of agreement with G.D Birla, it approved of the agreement as a whole since it
would help find a partial solution to an immediate problem of the people”(
Pillai ,2009) .
This remark is to be analyzed in the context of environmental
pollution, which the people of Chaliyar river basin have been addressing over
the period. The bitter experience of nearly 50 years of environmental
108
degradation due to an industrial project seems to be a non-issue for the left.
On the other hand, the subsequent left front governments extended a kind of
extra ordinary support to the Mavoor factory. This was evidently clear in the
tripartite agreement signed in connection with the reopening of the factory
after the 39-month long closure during 1985-89 periods. Critics found that the
LDF government (1987-91) which failed to protect the interests of the
workers had taken every measure to protect the interests of the management.
Raw materials was made available at less than half the rate at which it had
been supplied to the factory at the time of closure; the management was also
entitled to receive cash compensation from the government if the latter failed
to fulfill its commitment of raw material supply. For the workers the
unconditional withdrawal from the 39 month long agitation on the basis of an
anti ecological, anti worker agreement was a complete surrender whereas for
E K Nayanar, the then chief Minister of Kerala it was “a small sacrifices the
workers should make for the industrial development of the state’ (Mohan,
1989).
The regular members of the main stream left too had showed unusual
interest in justifying the liberal policies formulated by the party think tanks.
This was mainly in the form of providing support base to the factory in its
area of operation. The relationship between the local leadership and factory
management was complimentary and this was explicit from the very of
beginning of the factory. In 1963, when the reports of water pollution noised
in the area many local people including local leadership of the left movement
came up to support the management. They picked up the dead fish that float
on river Chaliyar and were took upon with the responsibility to conduct a
109
campaign that the reports of river pollution were fabricated (Vijayamadavan,
2009).
The mainstream left was instrumental in explaining the cause of
Grasim industries using different means of mass communication, which
includes public speeches, publications of articles in dailies and periodicals,
demonstration, leaflets etc. Many environmental activists recollected that
mainstream left was highly intolerant to their agitation. They used harsh
words to criticize the green movements. SreeDevi Mohan, a senior reporter of
Ajtak has cited the public speech made by Elamaram Kareem, the leader of
CPIM movement to prove the antagonistic relationship that had existed
between the two movements (Mohan, 2011). Leaders like K Chathunny
Master, famous trade Union leader and former MLA from Beypoor
constituency to which the Mavoor factory belonged to, were in the forefront
of this campaign. They were against the decision to nationalize 30,000 acres
of private forestland maintained by the factory management in Nilambur for
the cultivation of eucalyptus (Chathunny Master, 1988). There were reports of
physical encounters between the leftist and the environmental activists
(Malayala Manorama, 22 January 1999).
Thus, the notion that the reluctance of the leftist to accept green
Marxist perceptions in addressing the problems of a postmodern society along
with their ideological limitations to acknowledge the primordial identities has
direct reference to the rise of new social movements in Kerala seems to be
more relevant in the context of Chaliyar Movement.
110
4.4.1 Role of KSSP
Kerala Sastra Sahithya Parishad (KSSP),a left oriented non-
governmental organization working in Kerala with the slogan ‘science for
social revolution’ has played a very active role in the Chaliyar movement in
spite of the fact that some of its members who were working in the factory
had a different view with regard to the pollution problem( Vijayamadavan
,2009). KSSP, in 1977, formed a special team called Study Team On
Pollution(STOP) with Prof M.K Prasad, V.M.N Nambuthirippad, K
Sreedharan, K.M Unnikrishanan Nambeesan, K. Koyatty, K .K. Vijayan,
P.Balakrishanan Nair, Dr. Achuthan, Dr. K Sugathan, N Namasivayam, B
Prasanna Kumar and Dr. K T Vijayamadavan as the members. This team
visited the affected areas and collected information regarding the impact of
the new factory on health, agriculture, employment etc. They collected
samples of water, soil and such other materials to conduct chemical test to
assess the level of pollution. Most of the team members were from scientific
background and had sound knowledge in pollution Chemistry. The KSSP had
received support from the local people particularly from K A Rahman who
worked sincerely as if he was a member of the STOP team. His ancestral
home was transformed into laboratory for conducting various chemical tests
(Sreedharan, K. 2009). With the help of K A Rahman, the Parishad had
organized many corner meetings to make the villagers aware of the
environmental pollution.
The KSSP was perhaps the main organization, which pointed out the
absurdity in shifting the effluent discharging outlets from Kalpally. It
described this provision of the Ramanilayam agreement as “the most
111
unscientific and illogical solution one can think of to solve the problems of
river water pollution” (Surendranath, 2000). The main objection of the KSSP
was that the agreement in reality legitimized the practice of discharging
effluents into the river water.
As the Ramanilayam Agreement caused a division within the
movement and formation of a separate action committee in the Kayalam area,
the KSSP campaigned for a joint movement and convened a meeting of the
activist on the both side. The meeting held at Calicut Science Centre finally
resolved to form Chaliyar Samara Ekopana Samithi with V K Damodaran
from KSSP as the Convener. K A Rahman and K A Shukoor from Vazhakkad
and P K M Chekku and P K Muhammad from Akkode were included in the
committee apart from prominent social activist like Adv. Majeri V.M. Sunder
Raj, Dr. Sugathan, D. A Achuthan, Prof K Sreedharan and Dr. K T Vijaya
Madhavan (Chekku , 2009).
The agitations against Coca Cola factory at Plachimada present a
comparatively different picture of interface between the environmental and
trade union movement in Kerala. The next chapter explores the uniqueness of
Plachimada Agitation.
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