The construction of a Dolomite factory in Sishujhumra village of West Bengal has left residents aghast as the factory poses health and environmental hazards.
Nikita D | TwoCircles.net
WEST BENGAL – Sishujhumra village, spanning 4.27 sq km in Madarihat Block of Alipurduar district in West Bengal is home to roughly 921 households, with Scheduled Tribes making up 39.63% and Scheduled Castes comprising 12.49% of the total population (according to census 2011). The village is laden with factories owned by industrialists living in nearby towns and cities, employing a migrant labour force and few locals. A resident recalls that twenty years ago, the village was predominantly an agricultural village, with fertile land for paddy and other crops. “Almost everyone owned and cultivated land back then. Now the landholdings have reduced drastically,” he told TwoCircles.net.
Conflicts due to the setting up of industries are not new to the village. However, issues surrounding the recent construction of a dolomite factory have compelled the residents to collectively protest and appeal for support beyond local systems of redressal. When the factory was being constructed, it was understood that a cold storage unit with limited working hours is being built. The dispute began when this turned out to be false.
“We thought that a cold storage unit is being constructed. When they started putting the machines, that’s when we realized that it’s a working factory,” another local said.
Gram Panchayat member Seema Mahali confirms that, “When I had spoken to the owner, they said that the factory will only work at a fixed time. I just got to know that they are working day and night.”
The residents are now contesting that the dolomite factory is illegal on various grounds.
Dilapidated roads
Despite a notice board on Rahimpur More by the Birpara Police Station declaring, “Heavy Vehicle No Entry” – heavily loaded vehicles run day and night. Recently, residents spotted vehicles carrying raw materials to the dolomite factory at night. Continued negligence has caused massive deterioration of the village road, rendering it almost impossible to use. This issue was addressed by the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee on December 4, 2018. “I want the police, panchayat and other local bodies to jointly ensure that large trucks do not enter village roads and damage these,” she said during an administrative meeting review in the West Midnapore district of West Bengal.
A source told TwoCricles.net that in the past one year, “the villagers have protested and blocked the entry of such vehicles twice.”
“At those times, the vehicles would stop but once the anger of the villagers cooled, the vehicles started using the roads again,” the source said.
Excess dust and drain blockage posing health hazards
In a petition submitted to the Pradhan and Panchayat Member of the village on 09.07.2021, the petitioners allege they requested the panchayat member to look into the illegal dumping of stones and construction of the dolomite factory but to no avail. Residents further complained that the crusher next to the factory began work at 4 a.m. every day, causing noise pollution and disturbance. According to them, the road outside the factory has a thick layer of dust. The owners of all factories on the road had agreed to use a water system to treat the dust, but they failed to implement it. The residents are concerned that prolonged exposure to the dust will adversely affect their health. According to a paper published in the US National Library of Medicine, exposure to high concentrations of dolomite is associated with a significant increase in the prevalence of respiratory symptoms. The authors recommended engineering measures such as local exhaust and dilution ventilation as well as the use of PPE to eliminate or reduce exposure to this chemical. One can discern the impracticability of these measures when apart from the labour force, residents too become exposed to high levels of atmospheric dust.
Sishujhumra’s natural drainage system consists of a culvert that ensures minimal flooding during heavy monsoon seasons. The dolomite factory and the plywood factory next to it have extended their boundary wall, blocking the culvert and the natural flow of water. “The boundary wall creates a blockage and separates the two sides of the settlement. Water tends to stagnate without any proper outlet,” the source said.
Contesting the legality of factories in the village
The panchayat of Sishujhumra assures that she permitted the construction of the factory after consulting with the residents living nearby. However, according to the West Bengal Panchayat (Gram Panchayat Administration) rules, 2004, Clause 31 (1), the gram panchayat cannot give permission for the construction of a structure for commercial or industrial purposes if it is in a (a) predominantly residential area, or (b) on a road or an approach passage having a width measuring less than five metres. Evidence suggests that not only is the factory near the settlement but the width of the road is roughly 16 feet, making it less than five metres. “This is also the reason why large vehicles are not permitted on the village road,” the source said.
Demands of the residents of Sishujhumra
In a letter of appeal shared across social media on July 27, the representatives have demanded the shutting down of the dolomite factory, an immediate halting of heavy vehicles on road, putting up of an iron barricade at the village entrance at Rahimpur More and construction of metal roads at a) Rahimpur More to Sherpa Bazar b) FCI Rural godown to Krishna Lakra Dhura and c) a check post to the culvert.
A meeting with the owners of the factory to stop the work is pending. Mahali informed TwoCircles.net that, “the owners initially agreed for a meeting but have been unresponsive since the last few days”.
Beyond the dispute
The social history and recurring local disputes of Sishujhumra are testimonies to the immediate and long-term impact of a development model that places the torch in the hands of foreign private players, and disregards the social, ecological, and communal systems of the people who have inhabited and taken care of the land for generations.
The question of land and who has the right to it becomes contested.
“Most of the land was tribal land. Some of the factories are illegal because they are made on encroached land. In a radius of half a kilometre, one can spot at least 4-5 factories,” remarks a resident.
Mahali, on the other hand, told TwoCircles.net that, “Sishujhumra is an industrial town. The residential houses near the factory were made without permission. The land is industrial land.”
The District Industrial File 2017-2018 for Alipurduar mentions under section 2.1 that “Presently there is no declared Industrial Area in Alipurduar district.” Therefore, simply constructing industries in a region does not make it an industrial location.
The easy exploitation of areas like Sishujhumra is possible due to governmental failures- either by bypassing essential welfare policies or by introducing new iterations to laws like the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) 2020 that liberalizes environmental checks in the setting up of industries and commercial ventures.
“The issue is not only related to the village or particular problem of vehicles and so on. We are also talking about how there are lapses from the administration and the silent way in which laws are not followed. The nexus between industrialists, land mafia and local political leaders have instilled a sense of fear in the village and has kept the people perpetually poor,” the source added.
The residents of Sishujhumra village seem determined that the only way to preserve any hope is to vehemently oppose and stop the working of this dolomite factory.