Image above: Sofia Ashraf
A Chennai born rapper,
Sofia Ashraf took upon herself to take a hard and bold swipe against Unilever
for failure to clean up the mercury contamination and to duly compensate its
workers who are affected by its thermometer factory in Kodaikanal. In a song
set to Nicki Minaj’s rendition of “Anaconda”, the rapper seen clad in both
saree and modern attire sends in a strong message to the socially irresponsible
organization for failing to do its bid to preserve a safe and healthy
atmosphere for its workers.
A brief history
The defunct Unilever
thermometer company is said to have dumped toxic mercury wastes in 2001 at a
scrapyard where more than 500 people are said to be affected while the death toll
thus far stands at 45 people. People, forest and groundwater have been
contaminated for the past 14 years by a company that boasts of having done its
social responsibility. Its website says a lot of nice things about the
corporation such as respecting the law, care for the environment, employee’s
welfare and community consideration …. Something the ex-workers have yet to
see.
Malarkodi, an
ex-worker and victim of mercury exposure
Malarkodi was 18 years
old when she joined the then Pond’s India Ltd (now Unilever) as a construction
worker to build the factory and later offered employment as a cleaner. Her job
was to clean the factory shop floor littered with silver drops (mercury) with a
coconut broom and mop. No other PPE provided. Each time she pushes the drops,
it would further split into many fragments. Little did she know that this
chemical should not be inhaled or touched.
When Malarkodi gave birth to her
first daughter in 1995, the baby came out fully blue in colour and lasted for
only half an hour. In her squeaky voice (effects of mercury) she said “we lost
her”. She has no sensation on her right side which includes her legs, hand and
head but could not afford private hospitals. Meanwhile, her husband has tremors
and heart problems. She says that it is not easy making ends meet but is
thankful that the other two children are healthy. Until today, at least 18
children had died and dozens more are severely
ill.
The devastating effects
of Mercury poisoning
Mercury targets the
central nervous system affecting the brain, kidneys, harmful to developing
fetus and children. It transforms into a lethal form called methyl mercury on
land or even waterbodies where it can enter into the foodchain and magnify
several million times to the fishes that we consume. According to US
Environmental Protection Agency, 1 gram of mercury discharged annually into a
20 acre waterbody is enough to render the fishes in the whole lake as unfit to
eat. Exposure to mercury is also known to cause vocal cord paralysis that leads
to voice change.
Unilever does
social responsibility?
Unilever is a 55
Billion multinational company with products ranging from Lifebuoy, Dove soap,
Pepsodent & Close-up toothpaste, Axe deodorant, Lipton, Fair & Lovely,
etc. It spends about 8 billion in marketing efforts to brand itself as a
responsible, caring and environmental conscious corporation
Image: Ex-workers are rallying in a protest march
Image: Well wishers and supporters joining along with workers in the protest march
Pamphlets were
snatched away from shareholders ….
When Hindustan
Unilever held the Annual General Meeting with shareholders in their HQ at
Mumbai recently, a small group of people staged protest in which they appealed
to the shareholders to make the company address the liabilities. During the
time the protesters also gave out pamphlets to shareholders detailing on the
Unilever’s action that polluted the scrapyard. Unilever authorities however
forced the pamphlets out of the shareholders hands before giving them access to
the meeting. But, this did not prevent one shareholder from raising a question
for which the executives answer was they are “awaiting the Pollution Control
Board (PCB) for the report in regards to the level of mercury toxic wastes.”
Does this concern
us?
We may not be able to
prevent disasters from happening, but we can set things right. Therefore, I
urge all readers to PLEASE do your
part by helping to sign this petition.
It will not take you more than a minute to do so. People have lots of time to
spend in whatsapp, facebook and other social media by commenting and liking but
hopefully we are not the type of ones that look the other way when it comes to giving
a helping hand. We may not be able bring back the lives of the people who are
lost due to the effects of this contamination but at least we can make this
earth a yet better, safer and healthier place to live in. It would make it more
meaningful to the families who have lost their loved ones should Unilever pay
the compensation.
Many are taking
part in signing the petition, would you?
Will this organization
do its part to correct the wrong by paying them the due compensation? I hope
they will. My advance thanks goes to all the kind hearted people who would sign
this petition. At the time of writing, this petition has already collected 58
532 signatures. Yes, I signed for it and I hope you would too.
Join in and support
the cause along with this nice lady, Sofia Ashraf and many others. When you sign this petition, you are able to lend your voice as support to
bring justice to the ex-workers and their families who have been affected by
this chemical.
If you share by
twitter, please use hashtag #UnileverPollutes
Thank you.
CONTRIBUTION:
3. Jhatkaa
6. Logical Indian – The story of Malarkodi
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