INCREASINGLY, SPONGE iron is being produced in India for the production of steel. India is the largest producer of sponge iron in the world today and makes more than 111 lakh tonnes of sponge iron every year. The Central Eastern belt of the country which includes the States of Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal is the key region for growth for this industry. Sponge iron factories are also present in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and even Maharashtra. In fact, several units are present in and around Bonei as well.

For almost five years now, large scale protests have erupted against sponge iron plants in all these regions. Apart from being mineral rich, these areas are also forest rich and are dominated by the tribal and forest dwelling communities who depend on agriculture for their survival. The key issues of the protests have been - air and water pollution that impacts the environment and hence adversely affects health, agricultural produce, water sources, livestock and livelihoods. The situation is getting more serious as companies continue to operate without pollution control devices and continue to dump hazardous wastes from the plant into forests, rivers and fields and continue setting up new plants while expanding old ones despite opposition from gram sabhas and project-affected communities.

Since an earlier study of a sponge iron plant in Orissa also indicated the existence of similar risk levels, the study has recommended that JSPL and other sponge iron plants should be closed forthwith by revocation of their consent for operations and other environmental consents. These plants may be opened only when it can be demonstrated that they can be operated without risk to human health, crop yield and other environmental factors.

In January 2005 there had been a massive protest by thousands of people in the environment clearance public hearing on JSPL's expansion of their sponge iron plant at Raigarh. Despite this, the expansion received a clearance from the ministry of environment and forests. The Central Pollution Control Board has issued a set of draft guidelines and standards for sponge iron plants to operate, that would help prevent pollution. Chandrabhushan from the Centre for Science and Environment who is also deputy editor of the magazine Down To Earth said that,"these standards are highly inadequate and will not address the issue of pollution from these plants."

Members of local village and tribal communities from Sundergarh in Orissa and Raipur district in Chhattisgarh put forth the fact that they have repeatedly raised issues of pollution with State Pollution Control Boards as well as at environment clearance public hearings but have got no response from the government authorities or the ministry of environment and forests. Senior activist Gautam Bandhopadhyaya at the press conference after the meeting in Nagpur said,"We have to look at this issue as a larger developmental issue where industry is being given priority over agriculture at any cost as is happening in Singur, West Bengal or with POSCO in Orissa or any other large project."

The campaign is clearly demanding that if the industry cannot be made zero-risk then these plants should be prevented from operating and new plants should not be commissioned.