Is the city sitting on a steel bomb?

KOCHI: To a few in the city, the last summer was hot. To some, it wasn’t. Yet to others, summer was ‘not’ too long and so was it ‘not that hot’. But in the case of a family set close to a large steel yard in Ernakulam North, summer has always been hot - too hot to bear. Jayan (name changed) and family has been suffering from extreme heat for years together. He says during April and May, he and his family (which includes his wife and two children) swelter inside the house (despite the many fans they use). His house, during these months, turns into an oven. Since childhood, his daughter has been suffering from chronic cold (out of sweating), on most occasions ends up in fever.  For the last few years, boils have also been developing with each member of the family. Boils grow to almost the size of a grape, filled with pus and blood. His wife suffers from red rashes. According to Jayan, general health conditions of his family are sinking. Various kinds of steel are stocked in this yard in the heart of the city, which is why the residents in the area call it a steel supermarket. Jayan says the materials in the yard get heated up heavily by noon during summer, and the hot air so formed wafts into the houses close by.  Can it (the air) be carrying health-damaging chemicals is a matter to be looked into. Mayapuri episodeMayapuri in Delhi is a grimy industrial area of hundreds of tiny scrap-metal shops. It is known as one of the industrial debris of the world. It was from one of those shops a piece, or pieces, of metal blamed for an alarming radiation was found. Deepak Jain, the owner of that shop, who bought the contaminated materials from an importer, got sick first. Seven others, including Deepak’s friend were also hospitalised for the similar symptoms.  This episode at Mayapuri, according to Didier Louvat, a nuclear waste specialist with International Atomic Energy Agency, was a case of most serious global instance of radiation exposure since 2006. This incident also happened to be one of the 196 nuclear or radiological events that happened in 2009.India proving porous Health hazards and environmental damages caused by the import of scrap-metal and wastes from other countries are just one of the many daily issues in India.  Inadequate monitoring and lack of international standards make it easier for radioactive materials and other dangerous objects to cross borders. Indian foundries and locally run re-rolling mills fabricate steel by melting these scrap-metal contaminated with the same radioactive isotopes (Cobalt-60) found at Mayapuri.“The only time authorities take action here is whenever a crisis or a disaster happens.  Taking precautions and averting dangers is not in the range of any Indian psyche,” says Jayan. “Who knows the steel at this yard also has radioactive elements?” he asks. Whether a small family suffers from an unusual illness (out of radiation or pollution) is never going to be the concern of the authorities in Kochi either. Authorities seem to be more lenient towards the number of employees working in the yard and on how it helps the city to meet the demand for steel.