Lungful of poison
A Kannan has been feeling dizzy with fever for days, his limbs are shaky. He has come to the government hospital in Tamil Nadu's coastal Cuddalore town with others from nearby Kudikadu village with similar complaints. A common scene in a hospital. But the shock comes when one begins counting. Seventy people from the village of just 750 were admitted to the hospital on that day, October 15. "We have been in and out of the hospital for a week now,' says Kannan, 34. Vishwanathan, an industrial worker, got his wife admitted to the hospital five days ago with similar symptoms. She has also been coughing up blood, he says.
Residents of Kudikadu, located within the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (sipcot) industrial complex on Cuddalore's outskirts, have been constantly complaining of headache, dizziness, rashes and chest pains. In the village, one can see a thin layer of soot over everything. On days when the wind is blowing towards Kudikadu from the direction of the industrial units, the stench, like that of rotten cabbage, is unbearable. "We have been living like this for a long time, but in the past few months the stench has become worse,' says Kannan.
But the doctor on call at the hospital could not see any connection between the admitted cases and the living condition in Kudikadu. "Since this is the season of viral fever, it is not unusual that so many people are here,' she said.
There is nothing unusual about industrial pollution in Cuddalore either. The sipcot complex, with 31 industries, has been polluting its environs for over 20 years (see
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