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Why #KodaikanalWont going viral is not enough

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Moeena Halim
Moeena HalimAug 03, 2015 | 21:25

Why #KodaikanalWont going viral is not enough

"Unilever, clean up your mess" goes the chorus of "Kodaikanal Won't", a rap song fashioned on Nicki Minaj's "Anaconda". Written and performed by Chennai-born rapper Sofia Ashraf, the song tells you the story of the mercury mess the multinational left behind them in the beautiful hill station of Kodaikanal. In the four days since it was uploaded by Jhatkaa, a campaigning organisation, the song has received over 800,000 views and garnered petitioners against Unilever from across the globe.

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Unilever ran a thermometer factory in Kodaikanal until the Tamil Nadu government asked them to shut it down on grounds of environmental contamination. According to Unilever, they shut shop immediately and launched an investigation. "There were no adverse impacts on the health of employees or the environment," the report on their website states. But the employees and residents of the area say differently. Here are some facts that you must know: 

People have died because of the mercury contamination

"There have been 45 deaths till now. Ex-workers have died prematurely and we know this through their stories and experiences, which they've shared with us," says Sonam Mittal, lead campaigner, Jhatkaa. According to J Peter Sunderajan, a former employee at the factory, "mercury was everywhere." There were no systems for washing or bathing. They had mercury in their eyebrows, their lashes, in their moustache and nails. "It invaded our homes, places where we live, eat, sleep, our food and water," he rues. 

Mercury is highly toxic

It can very easily settle on water bodies and enter the food chain. "It can end up in streams, lakes, or estuaries, where it can be transformed to methyl mercury through microbial activity. Methyl mercury accumulates in fish and can affect human beings who consume the fish. Given the landscape of Kodaikanal, any contamination in the hills will be washed down to the plains," explains Mittal. 

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Effect of mercury poisoning on locals of Kodai.

When inhaled, mercury vapour is partly deposited in the brain, heart, and kidneys, and can also cross the placental barrier to affect the unborn foetus in women. Some of the known health effects include, gum and dental problems, mood swings, and nervous disorders, skin allergies, persistent and itchy rashes. Birth defects in children born to exposed mothers, memory loss, behavioural changes, loss of hearing and kidney, heart and brain damage. 

7.4 tonnes of mercury waste was discovered

In 2001, locals and activists discovered 7.4 tonnes of mercury waste dumped in a scrapyard. "This scrapyard was located close to a school. It was also found that the company has been dumping mercury in the Shola forests around its plant site. After HUL was forced to shut down the factory and clean the scrapyard, they managed to extract about 5.3 tonnes of mercury waste that it admitted was from their plant," reveals Mittal. 

And yet, no compensation has been provided

Unilever spends over $22 million on advertising every day, much of it goes into promoting its brand as being socially responsible. And yet, even as their employees lose their teeth and mental illness plagues the people, they've spent nothing on cleaning up the toxic waste they left behind in Kodai. 

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The people's demands

Clean up the mercury contaminated factory site and surroundings according to international standards, demand the people of Kodaikanal. They also want monetary compensation for long-term environmental monitoring for mercury build-up in the food chain in the forests and aquatic ecosystems in and around the factory. "Adequate financial compensation for medical care, and monitoring of the affected workers, their families, and children with birth-defects and sicknesses and avenues for economic rehabilitation of the workers and their families," says Mittal.

Last updated: August 03, 2015 | 21:25
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