State distorting laws protecting tribals, says Deo

By SNV Sudhir

Visakhapatnam, April 8, 2013: In an action that is likely to widen the existing rift between Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and Union tribal affairs minister V.

Kishore Chandra Deo, the latter has written to the governors of states with Schedule-V areas, accusing the state government was trying to brazenly distort the constitutional safeguards against the interests of tribals.

The union minister wrote a letter to governors of Odisha, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradessh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Rajasthan including Andhra Pradesh on April 4 urging them to use the special powers vested with them in safeguarding the interests of tribals living in Schedule V areas where left wing extremism have been fuelled due to continuous oppression.

 In a five page letter Deo said that the main threat to schedule V areas is the mining and it had shaken the confidence and faith of the people in the region. In many cases powerful lobbies are trying to encourage mining themselves in flagrant violation of constitutional provisions in utter contempt of land transfer regulations which have been enacted by various state governments and without any regard to other prevailing laws of the land, he said.

It may be worth mentioning here that Kishore Chandra Deo had earlier requested the state governor, ESL Narasimhan to cancel the licenses to mine bauxite ore in Vizag Agency and also the MoUs signed by the state government with private companies on the supply of mined ore, invoking special powers vested with the governors.

With no response from the state governor, Deo later sent directives to the state government by invoking special powers of the union government to cancel the licenses and also the MoUs signed with the private entities.

The state government instead of following the directives of Deo, sent a letter to the union tribal affairs ministry to reconsider them and also refuted the objections raised by him over cancellation of bauxite mining licenses to APMDC. State government also came in support of the governor.    

“It is most shocking and revolting that certain state governments for instance, the state government of Andhra Pradesh where higher echelons of powers are themselves trying to brazenly distort not only the laws but constitutional safeguards  against the interests of tribals and other dwellers in forest areas,” Deo said in the letter to the governors.

The state government said governor can cancel the licenses only by giving a reasonable opportunity of hearing under Mines and Minerals Act of 1957 and in such course it requires to follow a procedure under six various circumstances.

But Deo in his latest letter to the governors said, “The governor may repeal or amend any Act of parliament or of the legislature of the state or any existing law which is for the time being applicable to the Area in question, when good governance or peace is disturbed due to issues related either with land or money lending,” he said.

In a strongly worded letter to the mines minister Dhinsh Patel earlier on Feb 13, Deo also said that the state governor chose to ‘abdicate’ his authority under the provisions of Article 244 (1) of the constitution and the state government was ‘touting’ about the prior permission accorded by the mines ministry hence urged his intervention. 

Hot metal waste singes 5 at VSP

By SNV Sudhir

Visakhapatnam, April 7, 2013: Five workers suffered burns at the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) on Sunday. They were working at the slag tank of Blast Furnace III at the RINL-run plant. This is the third mishap at the furnace which was commissioned in April last year.

The incident took place when water supply stopped

due to a power outage in the VSP’s captive power plant.

Water is used to cool the slag from the metal which is at 1,200ºC when it comes out of the furnace. Since there was no water supply, workers tried to pour water with a wooden gun, which led to the spillage of hot slag.

Co-workers rushed them to the Steel Plant General Hospital with the help of safety department personnel. After initial treatment,

they were taken to a private hospital. Their condition is stated to be stable and out of danger.

The injured were identified as P.V. Satyanarayana, (assistant manager), S.

Sreenivasulu, Sk Abdul (technicians), M.

Anil Kumar (sub staff) and M.

Appa Rao (contract worker).

Anil Kumar, who received 15 per cent burns in the VSP mishap, said, “It happened in a few seconds. I heard that power had tripped more than half-adozen times since last night.” Visakha Steel Employees’ Congress general secretary M. Rajasekhar wanted tough action to prevent mishaps at VSP. “They have to take up confidence building measures among the workers,” he said.

28 victims in just 11 months

By SNV Sudhir

Visakhapatnam, April 7, 2013: The lack of safety measures and disregard for the lives of workers in industrial units causes needless loss of life. Some 28 persons died and more than 30 were badly injured and are still undergoing treatment, in various industrial accidents that took place in Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam districts since May 2012.

Around 91 accidents were reported here in 69 units between 2010 and 2012. Most of the accidents have been attributed to human error. Of the 91, seven have occurred since May last. Usually when casualties occur, the government orders a probe.

A high-level committee headed by former SAIL chairman and managing director S.R. Jain probed an explosion at the Vizag Steel Plant on June 13, 2012 in which 19 persons died.

A panel that was consisted to discuss the matter stated that were no lapses in the response to the disaster. The number of casualties would have been much less if people whose presence was not required had not been present.

The magisterial inquiry into the January 5, 2013 blast at Hetero Drugs conducted by district joint collector Praveen Kumar on February 7, 2013 brought to light several glaring lapses on the part of the management, including disregard of safety standards. The police arrested the company’s deputy general manager Goli Srinivasa Reddy, on March 1.

The then Srikakulam district collector G. Venkatrami Reddy ordered an inquiry by additional joint collector to look into the circumstances that led to the blast at Nagarjuna Agrichem Limited plant in Srikakulam, on July 1, 2012 which left 19 workers injured. The report is yet to be submitted.

2 inspectors to check all units in north Andhra

By SNV Sudhir

Visakhapatnam, April 7, 2013: A string of industrial accidents in this region has raised serious concerns, yet the local office of the directorate of factories that is responsible for ensuring industrial safety is short-staffed.
There are only two inspectors of factories for the four circles in the three north Andhra districts. They are supposed to inspect all medium and large-scale industries once a year, and factories working with hazardous materials twice a year.

Vizag district alone has 1.18 lakh people working in 1,095 industries. Vizag was also identified as a critically polluted area by the Central Pollution Control Board and a moratorium was mooted on greenfield and brownfield projects as the city is located in a ‘bowl’ and there is no escape route in the event of a major disaster.

Vizag’s Circle II inspector was given additional charge of Circle I (Urban) which has mostly public sector units (PSUs). There are around 75 medium and major PSUs in Vizag district alone.
The Srikakulam district inspector of factories was given additional charge of Viziangaram.

Industries are located on the outskirts of Vizag within a 70-km radius. Apart from being too few in numbers to deal with the burgeoning number of industries, the inspectors are given meagre facilities. For example, they are not allowed to travel in four-wheelers, and they have to depend on their own two-wheelers. The Vizag circle office doesn’t even have sufficient sub-staff like a clerk or even an attender.

Heritage unit didn’t have fire NoC

By SNV Sudhir

Visakhapatnam, April 7, 2013 : The Heritage Foods dairy plant in Bayyavaram, where a fire claimed the lives of three workers on Sunday, had not obtained permission from the fire department. Fire department officials belonging to the Anakapalle circle had inspected the plant premises in March 2011 and found that the fire safety equipment was not completely installed. The dairy was operating without obtaining the mandatory No-objection Certificate from the fire safety department.

The dairy was directed to apply for the NoC. “Until now they have not turned up. The dairy plant doesn't have an NoC from our department. We have been insisting for long that they get it. But there is no response from them," said P.S. Naidu, fire officer of the Anakapalle circle.

Flouting fire safety rules in this way is a fairly common practice. Of the 103 industrial units spread over five mandals that is covered by the Anakapalle circle, only a couple have obtained the required certificate. Almost all important industries, including pharmaceutical units in Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City (JNPC), come under Anakapalle circle.

The string of accidents in the recent past at VSP, Nagarjuna Agrichem in Srikakulam, Auctus Pharma Ltd at JNPC in Parawada, Hetero Drugs in Nakkapalli, Avra Laboratories and now at Heritage Foods, has raised questions about industrial safety.

In the rush to encourage industrialisation in the district, the safety of workers and securing NoCs from the fire department, have been sidelined. Before 2010, NoCs were not compulsory. Since then, industrial units are seeking clearance through the district industries centre.

According to Section 38 of the Factories Act, 1948, every industrial unit has to maintain equipment such as extinguishers to douse fire and its spread.

Heritage dairy unit fire kills 3 in Vizag

By SNV Sudhir

Visakhapatnam, April 7. 2013: In yet another industrial accident, three persons were killed when a fire broke out at a dairy plant of Heritage Foods (India) Ltd on Sunday morning. The plant is owned by the family of Telugu Desam chief N.

Chandrababu Naidu.

While Mr Naidu’s wife Bhuvaneswari Devi is vicechairperson and managing director, their son Nara Lokesh is its executive director. The plant is located at Kasimkota mandal near Visakhapatnam.

The incident took place when a refrigeration section at the dairy plant, which was under trial, caught fire due to an electromechanical failure. Three workers employed by a contractor, Thermal Engineers, were working on the refrigeration section when the fire broke out. The three workers died on the spot.

The victims were identified as Dharma Veer, 45, from Bihar, G. Sudhakar 27, and Manoj, 28, both from Hyderabad.

The new refrigeration section was installed oneand-a-half months ago and was yet to be commis

sioned. An oil separator exploded due to reported electro-mechanical failure and the entire refrigeration unit caught fire. The blast occurred an hour after work started in the morning.

Other workers were evacuated from the area immediately, and fire tenders were rushed to the spot to bring the flames under control. “We were shocked when we heard the loud blast. There was utter confusion and chaos for a few minutes. We had to run for safety,” said a woman

employee, who was working in an adjacent section.

Anakapalle rural CI R.

Govinda Rao, who visited the accident site, said a case was booked under Section 174 of the CrPC (death due to accidental fire) against the management following the incident and investigation is on.

Ports and infrastructure minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao, who represents Anakapalle in the Assembly, also visited the plant.

Vizag Buddhists vow to oppose beach corridor

By SNV Sudhir

Visakhapatnam, April 3, 2013: Union tourism minister K.Chiranjeevi has just approved the Central Financial Assistance (CFA) to the tune of `45.88 crore for the development of VizagBheemili beach corridor mega circuit, from RK Beach to Bheemili, but the Buddhists in the city are apprehensive about the project.

They are angered by the alleged breach of sanctity and archaeological value of the Buddhist monuments like Thotlakonda, Bavikonda, and Pavuralakonda, which were also listed in the tourism circuit that is to be developed.

As part of the development of the beach corridor, there are plans to develop these monuments as tourist attractions. The project includes beautification of the corridor, jogging tracks, food courts, children’s parks, theme parks and solid waste collection centres at some selected places between RK Beach and Bheemili, including the century old Buddhist monuments.

Bhuddhists pointed that these archeological sites are prohibited areas for any development except greenery. Now they want authorities to conduct a meeting with stakeholders before approving any plan that would affect the sanctity and archeological value of these sites. Union tourism ministry had just a few days back released an amount of Rs 3.2 cr as first installment.

 “It is unfortunate either the minister or the officials did not disclose what exactly they are going to develop in these prohibited areas of Buddhist monuments. At this juncture if any damage to ancient monuments is done we will proceed in the
court of law for the protection of archaeological sites. It is also a matter of our belief and sentiments,” All India Lay-Buddhist Organisation (AILBO), governing body member K V  Ramana Rao told this correspondent.

Union tourism ministry had also asked the state government to set up a monitoring committee headed by the special chief  secretary (Tourism) with a member from the ministry of tourism and the implementing agency to monitor physical and financial progress of the sanctioned project. The monitoring committee will submit the progress report to the tourism ministry on quarterly basis. The state government would get the work executed through the APTDC Ltd and shall have the work started immediately to ensure timely utilization of funds and to avoid escalation of the cost. The project should be commissioned within 18months.

One of the Buddhist monuments that come under the mega circuit, the Thotlakonda Buddhi-st complex is located on a hillock overlooking the sea, 128 metres above sea level and about 15 km from the city. It was the hub for the spread of Buddhism to Sri Lanka and South East Asian countries during the third century BC. It was discovered during an aerial survey by the Indian Navy in the 70s. Later, state government declared the entire hill as a protected monument through a GO on May 2, 1978. During his research between 2001 and 2003, an archaeologist working at the University of Michigan, US, Edward Lars Fogelin, discovered 134 sites connected to Buddhism in Andhra Pradesh, including a monastery at Thotlakonda.