KOCHI:
Nitta Gelatin India Ltd., a joint venture of The Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation Ltd. and Nitta Gelatin Group of Japan, has sought protection for its plant and properties at Kathikudam in Thrissur district and urged the government to take stern action against the miscreants.
The Company, which is the largest manufacturer of gelatin in India, has sought protection in the wake of repeated acts of vandalism carried out on its plant and properties. A 900 metre-long pipeline, which carries treated water from the factory to the Chalakkudy River is often the target of attack. The recent incident has brought production at the plant to a standstill for almost three weeks since October 23, 2017.
The company claimed that a five metre-long stretch of this pipeline that passes through private land is frequently damaged by miscreants. Recently, the pipeline was once again the target of vandalism and flow of water through it was blocked. A large piece of tree trunk was found inserted into the pipeline when a part of the pipeline that passes through the private land was opened for inspection with the permission of the Chalakkudy court. Even after removing the tree trunk, flow through the pipeline was blocked and a steel plate was found inserted into the pipeline to block the water flow.
According to company management, attacks on the pipeline have occurred several times even in the past five years. Even though complaints were lodged every time, the miscreants were not taken to task. “The pipeline was broken by protesters in May 21, 2013. It was again the target of vandalism in December 2013, June 2014, September 2014, April 2015, January 2016 and August 2016. On all such occasions, large blocks including tree trunks, sand bags, steel sheets and even crude bombs were found forcibly inserted into the pipeline,” said Sajiv K. Menon, MD, Nitta Gelatin.
“Apart from the adverse effect on the profitability of the company, we have been unable to meet our export
commitments in a highly competitive market, because of the disruption in production,” he said.
Every time the pipeline is blocked, the company is unable to operate for several days. Thus for the parent company, the factories in India are becoming increasingly unreliable, forcing them to expand by investing in other countries and even looking at setting up new factories elsewhere. This will affect the long-term viability of the Company in Kerala.
The Kerala High Court had given directions to the State government to provide protection to the assets of the company including its pipeline to ensure uninterrupted operations. “All these attacks have taken place in blatant violation of these orders. Our head office at Panampilly Nagar in Kochi was also severely vandalised, allegedly by Maoists in November 2014,” said Menon.
The Company management expects that strong and immediate action would be taken against persons who take law into their hands so that the future of this company and its employees, who are dependent on it for their livelihood, do not come under threat.
Though the company has purchased most of the land through which the pipeline is passing, a small portion of around five cents is being held by a person who is known to be supporting the protestors. “The company has offered even a premium over the market price for the land but he has not been agreeable to sell it despite the fact that there is no productive activity in this small piece of land. In fact, this land was purchased by the current owner at the time the company was trying to purchase land in that area so that it would have ownership of all the land through which the pipeline was passing. This gives an impression that even the purchase of the land by the current owner was with the intention of using it to disrupt the functioning of the company”, Menon added.
The plant at Kathikudam, which started functioning since 1979, has been the target of several acts of vandalism by a group of self-styled protesters under the banner of the NGIL Action Council. Though the group has been leveling various allegations against the Company relating to environmental matters, many experts and committees constituted by the Government of Kerala and the High Court of Kerala including the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Technical Expert Committee, Kerala State Pollution Control Board and the Central Pollution Control Board, have confirmed that the factory is fully meeting all the environment-related regulations of the Central and State governments.
The Company has 419 permanent employees and around 320 employees on contractual basis in Kerala alone. It is also providing indirect employment to a large number of people. The company contributes Rs. 24.5 crores to the State exchequer and Rs. 12.5 crores to the Central government annually by way of taxes and duties and earns around Rs.170 crores equivalent in foreign exchange through exports.
