SEZ Impact Assessment Committee, a sub-committee of NGO Forum has urged the Prime Minister to drop the proposed projects of Mangalore Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR), for reasons that the projects will affect the enviornment and health of the region.

In an open letter written to the PM, the Committee has stated that it has assessed the impact of the proposed SEZ and PCPIR in Mangalore with the help of an expert team comprising Sagar Dhara of Cerana Foundation (Hyderabad), Dr Shreekumar, a guest faculty of NITK, Surathkal and Dr Vinay Kumar of MDN Labs, Manipal.

“As per our assessment, the Mangalore SEZ and PCPIR will have severe impact on the human health, source of drinking water and environment in Dakshina Kannada. It will also pose severe threat to the national sovereignty, security and economy,” the letter said.

The Committee Convener Kateel Dinesh Pai released the contents of the letter during a press meet here on Wednesday.

Benzene threat

Mr Pai said as per the observations made in the letter, 8,000 MT of benzene is proposed to be stored in the proposed petrochemical complex. Even a minor benzene leak will be a major health hazard to the people of Mangalore, which may result in diseases like blood cancer, he pointed out.

As per the SEZ Act, land can be leased to any person in the world for a period of 20-99 years. The control of land in the hands of foreigners could be a threat to sovereignty and security of the nation.

“The petrochemicals complex is going to be an extention of the ONGC Ltd, or an integrated upgradation of the MRPL. This may lead to heavy revenue loss to the government,” Mr Pai said.

He also said the Mangalore SEZ Ltd had claimed that it would make use of the Netravathi water, but there would be no availability of water in the river for any new industrial purposes.

“The estimated flow of water in Netravathi is around 12,000 million cubic meters, out of which 78 per cent flows in the monsoon season, and 20 per cent in the post-monsoon. The remaining 2 per cent (240 mcm) is crucial, which won’t be available for industrial purposes,” he explained.

DK Parisarasaktara Okkuta President Upendra Hosabettu, Dr Shreekumar, Dr Vinay Kumar and Committee member Prasad Guruji were present in the press meet.