NATIONAL POLLUTION CONTROL DAY SPECIAL
POISON,
UNLIMITED
India has failed to come up with effective
legislations for its chemical industry even 35 years
after the Bhopal tragedy
VIVEK MISHRA NEW DELHI
E
VERY CHEMICAL in the
world is harmful and needs
to be handled with great
care. Still, India’s chemical
industry, the sixth largest in the
world, continues to expand
dangerously. Even 35 years after
the Bhopal gas tragedy, the world’s
worst industrial disaster, India has
not banned Methyl isocyanate, the
gas that leaked on December 2-3,
1985, killing over 3,500 people and
injuring several thousands. The
Union government in August last
year reluctantly banned Carbaryl
Sevin, the insecticide the Union
Carbide plant was manufacturing
in Bhopal. Methyl isocyanate is still
legally used in the country to make
polyurethane, a form of plastic.
Little wonder, the country on
an average recorded over four
major chemical accidents every
month in the past three years (see
“Extremely unsafe” p48). “The
152 recorded accidents are
underestimated as most cases go
unregistered,” says Gopal
Krishna of non-profit ToxicsWatch.
India’s chemical industry, which
includes basic chemicals and their
intermediates, petro-chemicals,
fertilisers, paints, pesticides, bulk
drugs and pharmaceuticals, is
one of the most diversified
47-50 Factsheet.indd 47
\ FACTSHEET
industrial sectors covering more
than 70,000 commercial products.
In 2017-18, the sector produced 49
million tonnes of chemicals and
petro-chemicals. Alkaline accounts
for 69 per cent of India’s chemical
production and polymer accounts
for 59 per cent of petro-chemical
production. The sector overall
contributes to about three per cent
of India’s gross domestic product.
INDIA TOOK a hard stance against
the sector after the Bhopal gas trag-
edy. But it went soft after economic
liberalisation in 1992 to attract
investment. “The government is
now talking about self regulations,”
says Piyush Mohapatra of non-profit
INDIA HAS NEARLY
15 ACTS AND
19 RULES THAT
GOVERN THE
CHEMICAL
INDUSTRY. YET NONE
OF THE ACTS ARE
EXCLUSIVELY
DESIGNED FOR THE
SECTOR
DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN 16-31 DECEMBER 2019 DOWN TO EARTH
Toxics Link. India has over 15 Acts
and 19 rules that govern different
aspects of the chemical industry.
Yet none of the acts have been
designed exclusively for the indus-
try. For example, the Central Motor
Vehicles Rules, 1989, deals with all
aspects of road transportation in
general and also specifically
addresses transportation of hazard-
ous goods, including chemicals. The
Environment (Protection) Act, 1986,
currently serves as the umbrella act
when it comes to the chemical indus-
try, suggests the National Chemical
Management Profile for India
report, released in 2005-06 by the
Ministry of Environment, Forest
and Climate Change (moefcc) and
the Central Pollution Control Board
(cpcb). At the same time, the
national chemical policy has been
pending since 2012. “We need a
comprehensive law which regulates
chemical use, production and
safety,” says D D Basu, former scien-
tist, cpcb.
This indirect monitoring of the
chemical industry has meant that
nine Union ministries have a stake
in the sector. moefcc is the nodal
ministry to enforce the Environ-
ment (Protection) Act, 1986. The
Ministry of Commerce and Indus-
try, along with the Ministry of Fi-
47
10/12/19 1:44 PM
 FACTSHEET / NATIONAL POLLUTION CONTROL DAY SPECIAL

LETHAL LANDSCAPE
India has 134 contaminated hazardous sites and
another 192 “probable” contaminated hazardous
sites, which includes seven sites around the
abandoned Union Carbide plant in Bhopal

70,000 1,861 7.7 RAJASTHAN 2

chemical products major hazardous million tonnes of CONTAMINANTS
11
Chromium, inorganic
commercially chemicals units hazardous waste salts, organics 107
sold in India spread across 28 generated in
states/UTs 2016-17
MADHYA PRADESH 6
CONTAMINANTS
14
Zinc, arsenic, lead,
EXTREMELY UNSAFE sulphate, chlorides, 71
aluminium, iron
In the past three years, India reported 152 chemical
plant accidents that injured over 1,100 people
GOA 1
800 Number of accidents CONTAMINANTS
1
Deaths 728 Chromium, copper,
700 cobalt, cadmium, 16
Injuries
600 arsenic, zinc

500
KARNATAKA 5
400 CONTAMINANTS
20
300 Chromium, heavy metals,
192 cadmium, lead, mercury,
200 189 arsenic, beryllium
66 90
100 39
64 31
0 57
2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018
Source: Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

Prepared by DTE/CSE Data Centre

Infographics: Sanjit
Data sources: Central Pollution Control Board reports Interim Report of
Monitoring Committee on Management of Hazardous Waste, January 2019
and Final Report of Monitoring Committee on Management of
Hazardous Waste, July 2019 and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
For more such infographics visit:
www.downtoearth.org.in/infographics

48 DOWN TO EARTH 16-31 DECEMBER 2019 DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN

47-50 Factsheet_re.indd 48 12/12/19 5:46 PM

 NATIONAL POLLUTION CONTROL DAY SPECIAL \ FACTSHEET
HIMACHAL PRADESH 1 1 UTTARAKHAND
CONTAMINANTS
CONTAMINANTS
5 8
PUNJAB 6 Chromium Heavy metals,
29 chromium
CONTAMINANTS
3
Chromium, zinc, inorganic acids,
lead, heavy metals, pesticide 60 UTTAR PRADESH
19
residue, phenol CONTAMINANTS 2 JHARKHAND
22 CONTAMINANTS
Chromium, lead, 12
537 fluoride, pesticides Asbestos,
HARYANA 3 lead
CONTAMINANTS
14
Chromium, 1 BIHAR
mercury, 20 CONTAMINANT
volatile organic carbons Arsenic
DELHI 6
CONTAMINANTS
22 1 ASSAM
Cadmium, lead, 3
CONTAMINANTS
18
chromium, copper, Chromium
28
nickel, zinc,
nitrate, arsenic

GUJARAT 9
CONTAMINANTS
15
Phenols, cyanide, lead,
chromium, arsenic, cadmium, 537
mercry, zinc, aromatic 28 WEST BENGAL
hydrocarbons, volatile 8
CONTAMINANTS
organic carbons Nitrate, phenol, lead
chromium, aromatic
hydrocarbons
MAHARASHTRA 4
CONTAMINANTS
3 1 CHHATTISGARH
Cyanide, lead, zinc, sulphate,
CONTAMINANTS
chromium, cadmium, 347 1 ANDHRA PRADESH 3
volatile fatty acids Lead, arsenic, mercury,
2
CONTAMINANTS 19 polychlorinated
Lead, zinc and other
biphenyls, cynaide
132 hearvy metals

KERALA 6 TAMIL NADU

6
CONTAMINANTS
7 CONTAMINANTS
TELANGANA 2 22 ODISHA
Lead, endosulfan, dicofol, 8 CONTAMINANTS CONTAMINANTS
38
Sulphate, manganese, 7 9
ammonium sulphate, chlorine, mercury, Arsenic, Fluoride,
thorium oxalate, rare-earth chromium, 31 phosphate,
chromium, petroleum
fluoride, chloride, thiozoles, hydrocarbons cadmium, lead, chloride,
sulphamides and copper, zinc, chromium,
antioxidants oil/fuel vanadium,
hydrocarbons cyanide,
mercury
Confirmed contaminated hazardous sites (134)
Probable contaminated hazardous sites Hazardous chemical units
Note: Jammu and Kashmir has 11 hazardous chemical units,
Puducherry has 3, Nagaland (3), Meghalaya (2) and Tripura (2).
The list of contaminants is not exhaustive

DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN 16-31 DECEMBER 2019 DOWN TO EARTH 49

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 FACTSHEET / NATIONAL POLLUTION CONTROL DAY SPECIAL
nance, take care of import and ex-
port of chemicals. The Ministry of
Health and Family Planning, along
with the Ministry of Agriculture
and Farmers’ Welfare, are con-
cerned with laws that handle con-
sumer interest. The Ministry of
Road Transport and Highways,
along with the Ministry of Ship-
ping, ensure implementation of
transportation laws. The Ministry
of Labour and Employment is con-
cerned with the safety and occupa-
tional health and, the Ministry of
Commerce and Industry is con-
cerned with the use of explosives.
“There is no rationale behind hav-
ing so many Union ministries look-
ing after one sector. It leads to over
interference and little work. The
European Union has effective reg-
ulations like the Registration,
Evaluation, Authorisation and Re-
striction of Chemicals and India
needs similar regulation,” says Mo-
hapatra.
Even the National Chemical
Manage-ment Profile recommends
“more inter-ministerial commissions
and coordination mechanisms”. It
adds that the “weakest factors
(plaguing the sector) are inspection,
vigilance and public awareness”. It
says that the country needs
standardised procedures and
personnel for inspection and
vigilance. Calling for stricter
guidelines, cpcb says importers
constantly violate the Customs
Act, 1962. Cargos are given
clearances without being emptied
every day. Importers use their own
software and provide wrong
information to the department.
There is no coordination between
the customs department and
environment ministry to prevent
illegal activities, says cpcb’s Final
Report of Monitoring Committee
on Management of Hazardous
50 DOWN TO EARTH 16-31 DECEMBER 2019 DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN
47-50 Factsheet.indd 50
Waste, submitted to the National
Green Tribunal in July 2019. The
Hazardous and Other Wastes
(Management and Transboundary
Movement) Rules, 2016, mandate
that the port and custom
authorities inform moefcc about
illegal trafficking of hazardous
and other wastes. It is striking
that ever since the rule was
notified, the Port and Custom
Authority has not even once
informed the ministry about illegal
trafficking of hazardous wastes.
Lack of data is the other big
problem. “Many organisations are
involved in collecting data—the
database on pesticides, industrial
INDIA’S DOMESTIC
CHEMICAL
INDUSTRY WILL
REACH US $304
BILLION BY 2025
FROM THE CURRENT
$163 BILLION
chemicals and chemical wastes is
encouraging. However, with respect
to consumer chemicals, attention is
needed,” says the National Chemical
Management Profile. There are
also data gaps in the inventory of
chemical statistics. Though
multiple agencies are involved in
the overall effort, integration is
needed, it says.
Krishna says India still does not
have an exhaustive inventory on
the chemicals being used and their
associated risks. “In other words,
we do not have proper knowledge of
the chemicals being used. So,
several chemicals banned
internationally continue to be used
here,” he adds.
BESIDES ACCIDENTS, the chem-
ical industry is also a major source
of hazardous waste, which, if not
handled properly, can lead to wide-
spread contamination. There are
around 56,350 industrial units that
produce 7.7 million tonnes of haz-
ardous waste every year, as per
the Hazardous Waste Inventory
Report 2016-17. “Over 100,000
tonnes of waste is not disposed
and kept inside the units,” says
Abhay Singh Soni, a cpcb scientist.
India has 134 confirmed contami-
nated hazardous sites and another
195 probable contaminated sites
that need to be assessed, as per
cpcb’s July 2019 report (see “Lethal
landscape” p48). Surprisingly, the
list of the “probable” contami-
nated sites includes seven sites
around the abandoned Union Car-
bide plant in Bhopal. These sites
are likely to be infected with car-
bamates, chlorinated benzenes,
mercury and chloroform.
India is betting on the chemical
industry to revive its Make in
India campaign. The Union
government organised an
investment summit for the sector
on November 12 in Mumbai. The
Petroleum, Chemical and
Petrochemical Investment Region
report, released at the summit,
says the domestic chemicals
industry will reach $304 billion by
2025 from the current $163 billion.
It adds that India will develop
manufacturing hubs at Dehej in
Gujarat, Vishakhapatnam in
Andhra Pradesh, Paradip in
Odisha and Cuddalore in Tamil
Nadu. “Given the growing interest,
the government must first iron out
the issues in the sector. Otherwise,
the country could end up
with many more Bhopal-like
tragedies,” says Basu. D T E
@down2earthindia
10/12/19 1:44 PM