Locals being screened for various cancers at a medical camp organised at Bhalabhadrapuram in East Godavari district on Monday.
| Photo Credit: BY ARRANGEMENT
Chemical technology experts and environmental activists have sought the intervention of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to probe the alleged environmental pollution from the Chlor-Alkali unit of Grasim Industries Limited (GIL) in the wake of high incidences of various cancers being reported at Bhalabhadrapuram in East Godavari district. The GIL is a flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group.
East Godavari Collector P. Prasanthi and Anaparthi MLA Nallamilli Ramakrishna Reddy interacting with doctors of Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Visakhapatnam, during health survey on the spread of cancer at Bhalabhadrapuram in East Godavari district on Monday.
| Photo Credit:
BY ARRANGEMENT
On April 21, 2022, the then Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had commissioned the ₹2,450-crore Chlor-Alkali project at Bhalabhadrapuram.
In a report jointly released by a group of environmental experts, K. Babu Rao, former Scientist, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT-Hyderabad), has stated; “The Chlor-Alkali factory is reportedly being allowed to use PFOA (Perfluorooctanoic Acid), which causes cancer. Hence, the government environment protection agencies should inspect the factory and initiate measures to prevent further spread of cancer cases at Bhalabhadrapuram.”
“Given the proximity of Bhalabhadrapuram to the factory, the high incidences of cancer cases in the village is a cause of concern. Environmental and chemical pollution are to be blamed for the spread of the cancers”, Mr. Babu Rao said.
“In India, the spread of cancer is one per thousand population and eight per 10,000 population in Andhra Pradesh. At Bhalabhadrapuram, the number of cancer cases, reported by March 24, is almost three times more than the State’s average, signalling the state of alarm on the rate of spread of cancers in the village”, stated Mr. Babu Rao.
‘Prevent spread of cancers’
On March 24, former Secretary to the Government of India E.A.S. Sarma wrote a letter to Ms. Leela Nandan, Secretary, MoEFCC, seeking the latter’s intervention to prevent the spread of cancers at Bhalabhadrapuram.
“I appeal to your Ministry to depute Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) experts to arrange for an investigation to ascertain whether the Grasim unit has actually complied fully with all the conditions precedent to the unit’s Environment Clearance (EC), whether the conditionalities stipulated in the EC conform to the global standards applicable to such units and the factors causing high rates of incidence of both cancer and liver disease”.
Published – March 24, 2025 07:06 pm IST
