Do tribal health checks before approving industries: Scheduled Tribes Panel

Get drinking water and waste disposal tested by a national agency and do health checkup of tribals before giving environmental clearance to any heavy industry in tribal-dominated Schedule V areas, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes has told environment ministry.

Worried about health impact of industrial projects on tribals, NCST has asked ministry of environment, forest and climate change to get detailed analysis done by a national institute of health of residents of a ST block before giving clearances to heavy industries in tribal areas. NCST has also prescribed a detailed analysis of availability and quality of drinking water resources in the block and a study by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) of the methodology of disposal of industrial waste from existing industries.

NCST has also directed that gram sabha meeting of all the affected villages should be called before a public hearing takes place so that the people can take an informed decision. The directive comes after complaints from Tamanar block in Raigarh district of election-bound Chhattisgarh where a coal mine is being set up by Maharashtra State Power Generation Company over 2,500 hectares of 14 villages. During a field visit by NCST, the tribals complained of respiratory problems and skin diseases due to excessive mining activity in the area. They also pointed out poor quality of water in the area.


After the visit, NCST chairman Nand Kumar Sai has written to environment minister Harsh Vardhan to include analyses by national agencies in the process of social impact assessment and overall planning in ST blocks.

In his letter, Sai has said, “the NCST being a constitutional body set up to safeguard the interests of Scheduled Tribes is deeply concerned about fragile life of the STs and the hazards which are caused or likely to be caused on account of setting up of industries, particularly in areas coming under Schedule V of the Constitution.”

Sai has written that consent of the gram sabha of the villages in the area where the project is proposed to be located should be taken because “any public hearing is pointless if the villagers are not keen on relocation”.

Speaking to ET, NCST secretary Raghav Chandra said, “We heard the tribals of Tamanar, in the presence of the district collector, showed signs of skin disease. We have asked the ministry to defer the public hearing and call a gram sabha meeting before any call is taken.”