‘Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don’t mean to do harm. But the harm does not interest them.’

T S Eliot


It is hard to face reality when reality has many faces. May it the closure of a factory or the struggle of communities where soft drink manufacturing factories function or the mafia that exists in sand mining areas, the REALITY has many faces.

The story of Grasim Industries, popularly called Mavoor Gwalior Rayons, reflects the connection and conflict between labour, environment and community. It is a case where all the players in the drama, the community, environmental activsts, workers and management have argued out their cases with passion and intensity (see box on page 7). After a high-pitched campaign by the environmentalists, self-interested involvement of politicians, resistance by the public and the impasse of the trade unions and the ulterior motive of the management, the Rayons factory was closed on 1 July 2001. The factory, which gave permanent jobs to more than 3,000 workers and indirect employment to thousands more became a closed chapter.

Our story begins from this closed chapter. The people of Mavoor still haven’t overcome the Rayons’ closure. It remains a deep wound in their heart and any mention about Rayons is like adding salt to that wound. People were possessive about the factory. They cherished and nourished it, but later was painfully forced to foresake it.


Closure and its Social Impact

According to the 1991 census, the Mavoor Panchayat spread over an area of 20.48 square km had a population of 27,843. Today, the No. 9 ward, once the highly populated ward of Mavoor panchayat has been declared a ‘No Population Ward’. It is in this ward that the Rayons factory stands. The situation in Ward 8 and 11 is equally bad. Many of the workers with Rayons were from these wards. They had to leave to look for another livelihood.

Till 2001, Mavoor was one among the busiest sub-urbs of Kozhikode. The Rayons factory worked in three shifts. Though a majority of the workers was staying in staff quarters and labour quarters, a number of buses packed with people used to ply daily through Mavoor. Markets in Mavoor were open till late night and there was hectic business. The workers coming in and out of the factory and the murmuring machines gave life to Mavoor. Anyone could walk through its streets whenever they wished.

This was before 1 July 2001. Mavoor is now a sleeping city. For understanding the current scenario, one only has to venture into the factory premises. The entire area of about 500 acres of land resembles a mini jungle. More than 800 labour quarters stand stripped naked and dilapidated with their windows, doors and windowpanes removed. From certain houses, even bricks and sand stones have been taken away. The white buildings, which housed hundreds of families of workers, lie totally abandoned. The staff quarters inside the company’s main gate also has the same morose and monotonous look.

Whole families except two or three households have shifted, most of them for good. The staff members who remain with the company are the ones who work with its legal cell. They are paid by the company and their job is filing and attending cases. The wife of K Satyachandran, who works as a stenographer in the legal cell, says, “We had very good time in the staff quarters, but now, with families only in two-three quarters one feels scared and lonely”.

“Crime and criminals in this area have increased. After the closure, thefts started within the factory premises. But now criminals have started their hunt in the city,” says Moideen Kutty, Head Warder in the Jail Department. “Acres and acres of land are lying idle. Anyone can experiment anything here,” says Raghavan, a manual labourer. “Immediately after the closure, during nights, we used to hear noises. Later, we realized that it was the noise of breaking windows and doors of the labour quarters. The noise was heard during day time also,” says Vijayan, who works with the UCO Bank, Mavoor branch.

The company has given contract to the Secunderabad-based Checkmate Security agency to take care of the entire factory premises. Sikhander Prasad, who hails from Bihar, works as a security guard at the pulp and fibre division of the factory. Since the company has given contract to Checkmate, his salary comes from the agency. “I get Rs 4,200 every month of which some amount is deducted for food expenses,” says Prasad. There are 41 security guards of Ceckmate currently working at the Rayons factory. There are also 13 civilians involved with the security. The absence of windows, doors and windowpanes from the buildings makes one feel that the entire security arrangement is a big farce. “The company is sure about each and every penny it invests in the factory. It might have insured the entire buildings and will take money from insurance companies for all the loss. It is public money, which is going to them,” says Shamshuddeen, a businessman, who runs a garment shop in Mavoor. He believes it was Rayons, which hindered the growth of Mavoor. “This was a forest area and in the 1950s when the idea of a factory came up people were thrilled. When the government acquired the land, people willingly gave their properties at nominal rates thinking it would give employment to them. But later, they had to regret their decision because of the adverse impact it had on the environment and community,” he adds.


Grasim Industries in Mavoor: Home of Perennial Conflict

The story of Grasim Industries (formerly Gwalior Rayons) in Mavoor, Kerala starts on 30 May 1958, when the government of Kerala made a contract with the Birlas to start a pulp factory at Mavoor, an agrarian village, 20 km from the city of Kozhikode. Along Mavoor’s southern border flows the Chaliyar River that originates from the Shola grasslands of the Nilgiris. Passing through the dense bamboo forests of Nilambur it joins the Arabian Sea at Beypore, Kozhikode. On the opposite bank of the Chaliyar River lies Vazhakkadu. People of this village used the clear water of the river for drinking, bathing, irrigation, shell-picking, sand mining and fishing.

The contract between government and the Birlas provided for an annual supply of 0.16 million tonnes of bamboo, the raw material for pulp production, at the rate of Re.l per tonne. In 1988, the annual supply was increased to 0.2 million tonnes, at Rs 250 a tonne, when the market price was more than Rs l,100 a tonne. In 1968, a staple fibre unit, the second unit of Grasim Industries started production at Mavoor.

Not only this highly irrational subsidy on bamboo but also the disproportionate use of water from the Chaliyar River was questioned by environmentalists from the very beginning. Grasim Industries used 68 million litres of water per day free of cost. Kozhikode city uses only 45 million litres per day, for which the citizens pay money. The city, facing an acute water shortage, has plans to bring water from Peruvannamuzhi, 50km away, at the cost of Rs 300 crore.

The conflict between the industry and the community picked up no sooner than in 1963 when the factory started production. The raw effluents were discharged into the river downstream at Kalpalli Kadavu through a 1.6km long pipeline. Eventually, the river downstream became blackish and foul smelling.

The pollution became acute and severe with the staple fibre plants and its associated plants like, sulphur dioxide plant and carbon disulphide plant, started functioning. The river water was turned into a black liquid, foul smelling and hot at times. Fish died in large numbers. The economy of Vazhakkadu and other villages downstream was upset and life became miserable as the river water was rendered totally unfit for any kind of human use like irrigation, fishing, shell-picking and sand mining.

People became restive and protest demonstrations and submissions of memoranda followed. It was at that time that an “Action Forum to Cleanse the Air and Water of Chaliyar” was formed by the people of Vazhakkadu, which spearheaded a series of agitations.

(Source: Labour File, May June 1996


Economic Losses

A general decline is also reflected in the health of banks. UCO Bank’s Vijayan says, “In our branch there were 13,000 savings bank accounts. After the closure of the factory, 80 per cent of them are inoperative.” “The only thriving business in Mavoor and its adjacent areas now is the business of buying and selling scrap metal,” says Vijayan. His observation could be justified after seeing the huge collections of iron in many scrap shops.

“Some of the factory workers tried to invest in business in Mavoor by opening shops. But when there is no buying capacity for the people how could business thrive?” asks Gopalan, who was a casual labourer with the factory.

M P Ashokan, Vice-President of Mavoor Panchayat, raises another important issue. “The closure has pushed back the growth of the entire Mavoor. The upward mobility of the people has been hindered. The economy of the Panchayat has been degraded”. He backs his statement by quoting the loss of income of the Panchayat due to the closure of the factory. “In 2000-2001, professional tax collected from Rayons was 1,255,000. According to the Panchayat documents, it came down to 260,000 in 2003-4. The property tax in 2000-01 was Rs 163,000. In 2003-04, after vacancy remission it has come down to Rs 86, 478.” Another loss of income he points out is from the ferry service. People frequently came to Mavoor from the Vazhakkadu panchayat on the other side of the Chaliyar River. There are ferry services from three different sites (kadvavu) - lamaram, Madanthala and Kalpalli - that link both these places. “When the factory was functioning these kadavu were auctioned for Rs 95,000 each. But after the closure, Kalpalli kadavu closed its ferry service and the rest two were auctioned at the rate of Rs. 5000 each,” says Ashokan.


The Lackadaisical Attitude

At the time of its establishment in 1957, the Mavoor unit, known then as Gwalior Rayons Silk Marketing Company Ltd., was regarded as a boon for industrially backward Kerala with a high level of unemployment. The initial capital investment for starting the factory was Rs 18 crore of which the company’s share was a meager Rs 2 crore. All ruling parties pampered the unit with water and power supplied at heavily subsidised rates and access to the state`s forests to gather raw materials at extremely low prices. Besides, the government promised an annual supply of 160,000 lakh tonnes of bamboo at Rs 1 per tonne (in 1932, the erstwhile princely state of Travancore had charged Rs 3 for 100 culms of bamboo).

The Mavoor unit was the first in the world to manufacture rayon-grade pulp from bamboo and later from heterogeneous species of pulp wood, including eucalyptus and certain wild plants, when bamboo was in short supply. The company was running in huge profits. But the initial goodwill (earned mainly due to the promise of providing employment) soon gave way to anger and resentment against its gross violation of pollution control norms resulting in massive problems to people living in the surrounding areas. Adding to this was the company’s insatiable appetite for raw materials, which resulted in denuding forests.

When there was fall in the prices of wood pulp in the internationally market, importing it became a cheaper and better option for the company. In 1972, the Birla Group had established a plant at Harihar in Karnataka making it became the largest producer of rayon grade wood pulp in the country. Added to this was the achievement of a joint venture pulp mill in Canada, whose entire output was meant for captive consumption in Grasim`s Viscose Staple Fibre units in India, Thailand and Indonesia.

“The machinery used in the factory had become obsolete and the outcry against pollution had reached its peak. Besides this, a cross section of workers were mumbling on the low wages in the factory,” says Vijayan, a resident of Mavoor.

Economically, the factory was an asset. “Mavoor’s growth to a township was because of the factory,” says Professor Sreedharan, Chairman of the organisation, ‘Environment Brigade,’ and ex-president of Kerala Sashtra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP). The KSSP played a very crucial role in highlighting the pollution issue. “Even if the pollution issue was not raised, the management would have opted other techniques to close the factory,” believes Sreedharan. The company, which started by paying high wages did not revise wages after 1976. The workers resorted to an unsuccessful strike for three years (1985-1988) demanding wage revision,” says Sreedharan. Everything pointed towards the lack of interest of the management.”

“All trade union leaders and political parties were taken into confidence by the management,” says A Atchutan, another environmental activist, who studied the pollution created by Rayons. “All labour leaders were against us. But we couldn’t change our stand because the pollution created by Rayons was intense, dangerous and harmful,” he says. “We never wanted closure, our intention was to save the environment and community. This community also included the workers in Rayons, because it was their working age and health getting more affected.”

“If you ferry across Chaliyar now, one can breathe fresh air and see odourless and clear water. The air and water is pollution and poison free,” says Peethambaran Master, one of the leading environmental activists who participated in the struggle against pollution from the factory. Master, who is a Gandhian, says that the environmental groups were never wanted closure of the factory. “We wanted the factory to be responsible for polluting our air and water. Our aim was to sensitise them so that proper pollution treatment methods could be adopted,” he says. Whether they wanted or not the factory was closed.

Details of Salary disbursement from the Company on 10 January 1999

Pulp Division

No: of Workers

No: of Staff



1,364

300

Fibre Division

866

214

Total

2,230

514

Details of Salary drawn from both Divisions

9831,000

41,2800

Salary on average

4,400

5,160

Managing Director’s salary

Rs.96,000

Source: Analysis by Professor Sreedharan, KSSP, Kozhikode




Pollution Conflict and Truth

Every morning, Sabeera bathes and washes her clothes in the Chaliyar River. She used to do this before the factory closed and continues it even now. “The water had a stench, but it disappeared once the factory started treating the effluents. The visible change in the water now is its change in the colour. It is also more clear,” says Sabeera. Sabeera’s husband was working in the canteen of Rayons. Now he is involved in sand mining. “Somehow one has to find work because we have three children and old parents to look after,” she says.

“The air and water were polluted due to Rayons. But it could have been controlled. A management who made around Rs 30 crore profit a year could have easily invested on the pollution control devices if proper pressure was put in,” says M P Abdulla, President of Vazhakkadu Panchayat. “Instead, cancer and other dreaded diseases were highlighted,” he adds. “The main drawback of the struggle was the lack of involvement by workers and trade unions. Trade unions were concerned only in getting monetary benefits for the workers and workers were not worried about anything other than their jobs”.

“Environmentalists and certain fundamentalist groups played behind the scene to close the factory,” says Dharmajan, General Secretary of CITU’s Mavoor unit. Dharmajan, who was also a worker in the factory, says pollution was a fact but could have been checked with proper devices. “As far as Mavoor is considered, Rayons was the only source of growth and development. The income it generated played a major role not only in the economy of Mavoor but even in Calicut city.”

Has the closure of the factory reduced pollution in the area? Thayyil Hamsa, the State Secretary of Swantantra Thozhilali Union (STU) says, “Like winners of a world tournament all the players of this game have gone back. They have never bothered to come back and see what has happened to Mavoor after the closure”. One of the major arguments of the environmental groups was that there was mercury in the factory effluents (see Box 2). But Hamza, who worked in the Research and Development department of Rayons for 35 years, says the company never used mercury. “All are cooked up stories,” he says.

“The issue of water pollution came to limelight only when the Birla management decided to sack R N Saboo, the Chairman and Managing Director, due to mismanagement,” says Mohammad Ali, who was a kalashi in Rayons. “Dead fish and the body of a cow (which died due to suffocation when the rope in which it was tied got entangled on its neck) were thrown into the water to show the intensity of its poisonous nature. When a scholar from the Regional Engineering College came up with scientific ideas of purifying water, no one was willing to pay attention to him. He was willing to do it with minimum resources and at nominal rates. This proves that the only intention of different players was closure of this factory.”

To study the different aspects of environmental pollution by the factory and to submit its recommendations for alleviating the problems faced by the people of the locality, the government of Kerala constituted an expert committee on 5 May 1997 under the chairmanship of Dr. B Sengupta, Additional Director, Central Pollution Control Board. The committee observed that the factory was polluting the air and it had to be controlled by adopting various pollution prevention control measures. The Committee assessed that the final effluent quality standard was not fully achieved by the company regarding water pollution.

“The company did not practice any systematic and scientific solid waste management. The sludge from the factory dumped into the Mavoorpadam seriously affected the water quality in the nearby wells and ground water,” says A Atchyuthan. “The factory has wiped out aquatic life from the river creating misery for more than 30,000 traditional workers. Besides, lush bamboo forests in the state were destroyed.”

The farmers who had planted banana and cashew crops faced problems. “There was an initial boost in cultivation because of urea. Later, it started effecting the plantation. Leaves turned yellow and people were scared to buy our produce,” says Imbichimoyin, an activist and farmer. Ramachandran, a fisherman in Vellayikkode, says, “People like us, who were living on fishing and collecting shells faced a lot of problems. When fish started floating dead no one was willing to buy it.”

The people of Mavoor and its neighbouring Panchayats faced massive problems. The number of cancer patients went up. People with tuberculosis, asthma and skin diseases were quite common. In spite of these, they wanted the factory to function. Their demand was only for a pollution-free environment. Even the environmental groups who knew the intensity of pollution only demanded proper control norms and an end to over-extraction of natural resources. “We never demanded closure. We knew it is the livelihood of thousands. We were aware of its economic contribution. Our intention was only to make the company responsible for the pollution they create,” says Prof. Sreedharan.

High Level of Mercury

A study of the Chaliyar River water conducted by a team led by Professor Savariyar of the Department of Chemistry, Calicut University had come up with the findings that the quantity of mercury in Vazhakkadu and Chungappalli was 2.87 mg/l and 2.78 mg/l respectively whereas the permissible limit was .001 mg/l. Another study by the National Institute of Oceanography based in Goa also found mercury in the Chaliyar River.


Where are the Labourers?

During the initial stages, Rayons was considered a ‘high wage island.’ Even senior government officers and professors resigned their posts to join Rayons. In the beginning, it was the only factory, which provided a four-figure salary to its workers. The fact was it never became a five-figure one. The management had lost interest in the factory in the 1980s when there was a three-year-long strike for salary increase. The pollution issue followed soon.

In July 2001 when the factory was closed the employees were compensated to the tune of 40 day’s salary for every year of completed service as also for the years left for retirement. Apart this, every employee coming under the agreement was given Rs 27,500 each. Those employees, who were to retire between July and December 2001, were given an ex-gratia payment of Rs 10,000 each. The bonus for 2001 was fixed at 8.33 per cent and paid.

Almost all the permanent workers in Rayons had put in more than 20 years of service. When the factory closed, they got an amount of Rs 200,000-Rs 400,000 as compensation. What happened to this money and where are the workers? The money that Soman got was spent on rebuilding his house and marrying off his daughter. Since Rajeevan was staying in the labour quarters, his money went to buying a small house. Chandran invested the money on an auto rickshaw and Gangadharan invested it in a small Ayurveda centre.

The majority of workers who became jobless due to the closure were in the age group of 40 and 50. Most of them did technical jobs suitable only to the factory. The factory was the major employment provider in the city. “I invested Rs 150,000 to set up an Ayurveda centre in Kozhikode. After a few months, I had a heart attack and was forced to close it,” says Gangadharan, who was a Senior Grade Fitter in Rayons. Gangadharan had joined Rayons at the age of 24 and worked there for 27 years. “After the heart attack, I wound up my business from Kozhikode and started it in a small way in Kayalam, Mavoor. The shifting has made me spend money again,” he says. Gangadharan does not see any hope in the Ayurveda centre. “There is no money circulating in Mavoor and none of the business is thriving. How can I be successful?”

Ali, who works as a railway porter, had to invest money to get himselves registered as a porter. He doesn’t like to mention the amount he spent to get the registration card. “I make around Rs 4,200 monthly after putting in hard labour,” he says. Ali’s service with the loading and unloading department of Rayons started at the age of 18. He worked for 25 years there and when he left with the Rs 250,000 compensation. He is the only wage earner of his family.

Some workers were cheated after investing in businesses that never existed. A well-known person in Vazhakkadu made them invest money in a stone quarry in Rajashtan. After collecting lakhs of money from different investors, he disappeared leaving no clue.

Thresiamma, wife of Zacharia who retired from Rayons before the closure, has set an example to many women in the locality. She prepares breakfast, packs it and takes to the Kozhikode Medical College where there is no dearth for clients. There are other women from Rayons, who do similar kinds of business targeting hospitals. “One has to be up midnight to prepare food and pack it because it has to reach the patients and relatives during their breakfast time,” says Thresiamma. With the experience of the last three years, these women have befriended attendants and staff at the hospital so that a smooth transaction takes place.

Sand Mining in Kerala

Sand is an inevitable commodity in construction activities. Sand from rivers are considered as the best for construction because the sea sand has a lot of salt content which is harmful for buildings. During construction, sand is commonly used for concreting, plastering and mortaring.

Sand mining in the Chaliyar River takes place at a number of sites along the river course. In Kerala, these sites are locally referred as kadavus. According to official figures, the kadavus number 36, 34 and 17 in Kozhikode, Quilandi and Badagara respectively, which means that they give employment to around 5,000 people (each kadavu has around 60-65 people working).

Sand mining is a highly labour intensive activity. There are hundreds of people involved with the mining activity on the banks of Chaliyar. The government of Kerala has formulated guidelines by looking into the components of control and regulatory measures. According to the guidelines, the government has fixed the quantity of sand to be mined, specified the places along the river course and the time periods within a year in which sand mining should be prohibited.

“The task involved in sand mining is quite laborious,” says Radhakrishan, a labourer in the Oorkadavu mining area. “We start our work early morning and continue till noon,” he says. Workers use country boats to go into the river and collect sand. The number of people in each boat may vary between three and six. They jump into the water and remove sand using baskets. For one truckload of sand (three tonnes), a worker gets Rs 450. The rate at which the Panchayat sells the same load is Rs 570. For big trucks, they charge Rs 725 and the worker is paid Rs. 470. The labouers have to meet other expenses related to sand mining themselves. “The boat rent itself will come to Rs 3,000 to Rs 5000 a month,” says Baburaj. “Buying baskets and bamboo poles is additional.” The private parties used to pay the rent of the boats and provide the workers with equipment. But now, every worker has to put it from his pocket. Therefore, the net earning of a worker on an average will be Rs 150 to Rs 200.

Since the mafia in sand mining is reaching its spread, this source of income has also become a controversial issue. “Though restrictions and preventive measures are adopted there is large scale illegal mining that is taking place,” says Rachna Shah, District Collector, Kozhikode. “Quite frequently, we do inspections and if caught they are penalised with exorbitant rates,” she says. “There is a squad in the district office of the Mining and Geology department to do inspection. But the problem is the lack of personnel in this department,” says a geologist with the department. “The sand mafia is so powerful and they are always alert about our moves.”


Playing With Dignity

Another group of workers, who were worst affected by the Rayons closure, are its 1,384 contract and casual workers, out whom 684 were casual workers. These workers, who had put in more than 15 years of service, were not given any compensation when the factory closed down. The management even played with their dignity when it issued casual cards to these workers who had been demanding permanent status.“Excited, we came for work next day with the causal cards dreaming of our status of permanent workers. What we saw was the closure notice,” laments Karthyayini.

Karthyayini was a headload worker in Rayons. After putting labour for 30 working days, she was given wages for only 15 days. Karthyayini’s family solely depended on her income. She has two daughters aged 25 and 21. The elder one is a widow with two girl children. Same is the story of Shyja and Ajitha. The lives of these sisters have been revolving around Rayons. Pennutty and Srivally also have the same pathetic story to tell. Now their only source of income is in selling papaya and firewood. Johnny, another casual labouer, was a welder. He has managed to get the work of making iron boats. “This is only a temporary job. What next?” he asks. Mani, who was doing insulation job in Rayons, today hunts for job as a manual labourer. Rajan, whose was a scavenger, is totally at loss how to support his family. Adding on to their woes is the number of false cases registered against them. Robbery, stealing coconuts, burning buildings and even immoral traffic are issues charged against them. “We cannot look for jobs, because we have time only to attend our cases,” says Sreevalli. “It is difficult for us to survive. If it goes on like this, we may have to put an end to our life by hanging ourselves in the factory premises,” she adds.

When the casual and contract labouers came together and protested, the management promised Rs 25,000 for every casual worker. It remains a promise to this day. The workers have now decided to go sit on an indefinite hunger strike. A lot many former workers of Rayons are working as security guards doing more than 12 hours of duty a day for getting only a pittance. Many work as construction workers and labourers. Almost all of them are struggling to make both ends meet. Those who invested in auto rickshaws are also running losses because passengers are rare. A few workers are trying their luck in sand mining. But the mafia in sand mining has affected their work and a chance for earning livelihood.

A notice issued for the ‘Save Chaliyar Campaign’ says, “Hey, you, the people who diligently fought the successful strike to save Chaliyar from the poison spread by the factory, please do come up again... Let us save Chaliayar from the hands of sand mafia.” The people’s forum and environmental groups are gearing up for action. They are gathering to protest and thereby protect the river and environment.

Though it is hard for people to face reality, the fact is that REALITY has many faces.