WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2024
Team Herald
PILERNE: The villagers of Saipem, under the banner of the Saipem Villagers Anti-Pollution Front, have written to the Indian Paint Coating Association (IPCA) recommending that the recently gutted Berger Becker paint factory be moved out of the Pilerne Industrial Estate.
In the letter, the villagers said that the inferno has created a lasting impression on their minds and that it posed a major health hazard to the people who live barely 100 metres from the factory, due to air and water pollution.
The adverse geological and environmental impact of this fire incident is severe.
“It’s been 12 days since the incident, but we can still see the effects of the chemical hazards in the air and can still smell the obnoxious odour of smoke. The pollutants have entered our natural water reservoirs and wells and contaminated our traditional water resources due to the poisonous chemicals stored at this factory, and from the rundown of water used to extinguish the fire,” said the group.
“This factory has rendered every drinking water well in the ward unusable. This is a sure and slow death sentence announced to us by Berger Becker, ever since it was set up in the Pilerne Industrial Estate and has been creating health issues for the villagers for a long time,” alleged Assis Cadozo, convenor of the front.
The front claimed that the residents of Saipem have been suffering adverse reactions like cough, vomiting of blood, headaches, fever, breathlessness, skin rashes, eye irritation and other ailments, apart from severe mental distress, after the fire incident.
They urged the IPCA to revoke the membership of Berger Becker Coatings Pvt Ltd and requested that the company be advised to shut down its operations in the Pilerne Industrial Estate and relocate from the area at the earliest.
The letter was signed by convenor Assis Cardozo, joint convenor Suraj Morajkar and ten members of the front.
