Thousands of Mahad villagers march in protest after yet another leak in the local chemical pipeline, even as officials claim the chemicals will do them no harm
Thousands marched to Mahad MIDC to demand an end to the widespread chemical pollution of their villages
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Life in Mahad continues to stink for the locals, despite all the promises made by the authorities a fortnight ago, when a chemical pipeline burst open and leaked toxic waste into the villagers' farmland. mid-day had highlighted the plight of Mahad residents, many of whom had developed cancer, paralysis, asthma and other serious ailments after exposure to the chemicals. After our report, officials promised to build a new, safer pipeline and, in the meantime assured that the existing one would be repaired.
On Thursday, the pipeline burst yet again, gushing chemical effluents all over the roads and farms. Around 5,000 villagers marched in protest from Naralwadi Phata to Mahad MIDC. They handed over a memorandum of their demands to officials from the pollution control board, as well as the Common Effluent Treatment Plant and factories at MIDC.
The villagers were upset that the authorities had not followed through on their promise. "Till date, no case has been registered, and the defaulters have not been caught either. Why are they using the pipeline when they had assured us they would take action first?" said Manik Jagtap, ex-MLA from Mahad, who led the march. Jagtap's family members are among hundreds who have been afflicted by cancer since the pipeline leaks began. Upon the villagers' insistence, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) sent samples from the chemical leak for testing, after which officials declared the water was safe.
Official speak
Pramod Mane, sub-regional officer, MPCB Mahad, said, "We sent the samples to an MPCB lab in Chiplun. The water quality was found to be 280 COD. The standard for treated water is 250 COD, so we believe the water is up to standards." COD refers to chemical oxygen demand, a yardstick to assess the effect that discharged wastewater will have on the environment. Mane added, "Thursday's leakage was not in the village, but near the MIDC area."
'Can't trust MPCB'
Faisal Chandale, one of the villagers, alleged that it was all a cover-up. "When the MPCB collected samples, the water was stinking and dirty, so how can they now claim it is clean? They were also supposed to give one sample to us and one to the police, but they didn't do so. Even their own sample was not sealed. How can we trust their results? We believe the MPCB has manipulated the results," he said.
Demand jobs
Another factor that sparked Thursday's protest was the fact that one of the companies had summarily sacked five villagers. As the leaking pipeline has allegedly rendered their farmland uncultivable, the villagers now demand that they at least get jobs at the factories.
5k
Approximate number of villagers who took part in the protest
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