Activists allege threatening calls ahead of public hearing on proposal for a chemical factory

Social activists and scribes are alleging arm twisting tactics by the government ahead of a public hearing for establishment of a chemical factory at Malgi village of Nyalkal Mandal in Sangareddy district.

A social activist who has been campaigning in the village against the industry and a local journalist reportedly received calls from the Deputy Superintendent of Police of Zaheerabad. A call to the DySP for this report went unanswered.

Y. Ashok Kumar, a retired head master and district convener of the Telangana People’s Joint Action Committee, alleged that the DySP had spoken in a threatening tone. “We visited the village a few times, distributed pamphlets and tried to educate the village youth who in turn started speaking to others about the carcinogenic effects of formaldehyde, the main product from the unit,” Mr. Ashok Kumar said when contacted by The Hindu.

In response, representatives of the proposed unit, with support of the Sarpanch, organised another meeting and reportedly told the villagers that the product was not formaldehyde, but only a few resins. People did not buy this, and opposed the proposed factory.

In the meantime, at another public hearing in Mominpet of Vikarabad district residents and political leaders unanimously opposed the establishment of an ethanol factory, forcing the company management to announce their withdrawal. This failure, Mr. Ashok Kumar says, might have created fears in officials that the Malgi proposal too might go the same way.

“I got a call at 4.30 p.m. on January 1, and the person on the other side started enquiring about me. He said he was DySP Zaheerabad, and in a rude tone, asked why I was interfering in the affairs of Malgi village, and doing anti-government propaganda,” he said.

When Mr. Ashok Kumar responded with his antecedents, his job and his role in Telangana movement and TPJAC, the officer softened his tone. “After the conversation, the DSP did not hang up immediately. Instead, he was speaking to his subordinates about me in a very menacing tone, with his phone on. He told them he had pressure from above and asked them to stop me from attending the public hearing,” Mr. Ashok Kumar added.

A local scribe from the village too informed that he had received a call from the DSP on the same day, enquiring about his reports on the opposition to the proposal in the village. “He started by saying I was leading the movement, and sought more details about the opposition to the proposal. He tried to justify the industry saying it would benefit people,” the reporter said, under the condition of anonymity.

The company, Sreeasha Aldehydes and Adhesives Private Limited, applied for environmental clearance as an ‘A’ category industry with high pollution index, as per the Terms of Reference granted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Apart from formaldehyde, other products mentioned were melamine formaldehyde resin, urea formaldehyde resin and phenol formaldehyde resin. All the four products are reported to have wide ranging public health repercussions in the long-term, including some types of cancer and chronic respiratory/neurological issues. The public hearing is scheduled for January 3.