Environmental Burden in Everyday Lives of Dalits: A Case Study of Sanand,Gujarat

Abstract

Under Buddhist philosophy, followed by Dalits and other marginalised groups, an organic relationship exists between environment, knowledge and society where natural resources are conceived as equal partners and their identity is enmeshed with these. However, this organic balance between environment, knowledge and society gets disrupted by certain kind of materialistic thinking which not only creates ecological imbalance but also social conflict, exposes people to a whole range of risks like dislocation, loss of livelihood, work burden for women, health issues, loss of culture to destruction of civil rights. Against this backdrop, this paper reflects on sustainable development and analyses environmental degradation caused by the proliferation of chemical and pharmaceutical industry by encapsulating how neoliberalism smartly appropriate caste system and its attendant inequality, resulting in pain and suffering of subaltern masses. Foregrounding the study in the four villages of Sanand Block, Ahmedabad district of Gujarat, this article discusses the politics of environmentalism, spells out ‘environmentalism of the poor’ and narrates the way subaltern communities manage to live with environmental burden.

Introduction

Sustainability is often spoken of in terms of ‘three Es’—economics, ecology and equity. It involves a vision of human welfare that takes into consideration intergenerational (present and future generation) as well as intra generational equity which does not exceed the limits of natural bases (Passerini, 1998). Intra-generational sustainability within the concept of sustainable development is about social issue of distributive equity within and between countries, rich and poor. Development acquires new meaning within sustainable development debates which consider social, economic, health and environmental concerns and aims to end fear and violence. The sociological task is to examine how social systems create or resist sustainability claims and action in light of society’s dependence on and inseparability from natural development (Passerini, 1998). Ironically, this notion of sustainable development seems to be incompatible, if development regime decides to achieve growth via chemical and pharmaceutical industry which unleashes myriad predicaments for the vulnerable groups.

An important point here is, how environmental degradation, including depletion of renewable and non-renewable resources can be a significant source of stress upon societies? Can it act on social integration indirectly, through the constraints that it puts on productive activities, and have direct social impacts? Studies indicate that environmental decline may induce changes in settlement patterns and disrupt established social relations. It may accelerate social stratification or promote social solidarity and stimulate collective action (Mukerjee, 1943). Therefore, environmental degradation can only be understood within the context of the society that the environment supports and state’s developmental models. Changing patterns of social integration affect the ways in which natural resources are utilised by society, the value ascribed to nature, and the importance attached to environmental conservation and rehabilitation (UNRISD, 1994). When materialistic thinking disrupts the organic balance between environment, knowledge and society, it not only creates ecological imbalance but also exposes people to a whole range of problems starting from pollution, climate change, extinction of species, dislocation of marginalised population, impoverishment, loss of livelihood, work burden for women, health burden, and loss of culture to suspension of civil rights, which is otherwise called as ‘slow and invisible forms of violence’.

This violence gets manifested in myriad forms. First, environmental degradation makes a large number of people landless and strips them off from livelihoods. Second, industrial projects like production of pesticides for agro-business in Bhopal brought forth industrial genocide for the marginalised groups (Vishwanathan, 1997). Similar facets are seen in the nuclear power projects like Fukushima; thus taking a heavy toll on its people. Floods and earthquakes which have become normal in recent times are symptomatic of environmental disregard and it too endangered people’s lives. Likewise, the consequences of pharmaceutical projects through genetic engineering which addresses diseases like AIDS, reproductive technology, etc., are disastrous not only from health point of view but also from sociopolitical grounds (Datar, 2011, p. 1467). Due to the impoverished location, disadvantaged groups forcefully sell their body for clinical trials, surrogacy, etc., though provides material benefits, it too invites health-risks for them. Additionally, genetic engineering and biotechnology are promoted through agribusiness companies and pharmaceutical research institutes, pose not only technical insecurities but also ecological risks (Datar, 2011, p. 1467). Against this backdrop, this article focuses on the debilitating impacts of pharmaceutical and chemical industries on Dalits in Sanand, Ahmedabad district of Gujarat. While in much of social science research, ethical violence and injustice has been the object of enquiry in the context of pharmaceutical industries, other varieties of risks like disease burden, environmental insecurity, dispossession and loss of livelihood are not usually the focus. On the other side, adverse impact of green revolution on environment and well-being has been widely documented (Gupta, 1998; Vasavi, 2020) compared to the pharmaceutical industry.

Let’s first see who Dalits are and how they are defined. According to Omvedt (1995), ‘Dalits are members of scheduled castes and tribes, neo-Buddhists, the working people, the land-less and poor peasants, women and all those who are being exploited politically, economically, socially and in the name of religion’ (ibid., p. 72). Marking the political and libertarian principle associated with this term Macwan (2001) writes, ‘The origin of the word “Dalit” entered as part of the social and political structure in relation to Dalit consciousness. However, the caste system is a main cause behind the Dalit identity. The path to the fight against exploitation and discrimination can only be oppressed’. Thus, Dalit is not a caste identity but a moral role committed to striving for a moral egalitarian human world. In short, Dalit is an expansive concept in the sense that it included all marginalised groups who experienced discrimination, exploitation and inequality. In similar vein, Omvedt (2003), showing the historical association of Dalits with Buddhism, argued that the purpose of Buddhism is to end suffering in this world and emphasised on rationality and ethics. Highlighting the widespread currency of the identity of ‘Dalit’ in the various subaltern movements in post-Independence India and crediting it to Dalit Panther movement in mid-1970s and explosion of radical Dalit literature, Guru and Chakravarty (2005) meticulously note, though this (Dalit) identity were chosen deliberately by the Panthers and used it proudly, the strategic dilemmas of the earlier periods continued with reference to the question of the substance of ‛Dalit’ identity and its implications for social and political mobilisation. Was it meant to symbolise the assertion of only the scheduled castes, or could it potentially weld together a coalition of all the socially marginalised and economically impoverished masses, all those who have been ‘broken, ground down by those above them in a deliberate and active way?’ The promise of the ‘Dalit’ identity lay in its epistemological and political capacity to forge a unity drawing on the material social experience of the subjects it sought to simultaneously represent and constitute. It was asserted that ‘Dalit is not a caste. He is a man exploited by the social and economic traditions of this century. He does not believe in God, Rebirth, Holy Books teaching separatism, Fate and Heaven because they have made him a slave. He does believe in humanism. Dalit is a symbol of change and revolution (ibid., p. 144)’.

Moving from etymology of ‘Dalit’ to look at their philosophy and everyday practice in relation to nature, the following points can be clearly discerned. An organic relationship exists between environment, knowledge and society, which are cohered around intrinsic values (Rao, 2022). In this equation, a distinct and significant knowledge system is nurture. Therefore, the relationship between nature and socio-cultural and economic milieu of Dalit society is harmonious. More so, human beings continuously interact, adapt themselves according to the ecology, and thus develop a pattern for social relations and culture depending on the climate and availability of natural resources. Significantly, Dalits do not treat natural resources as capital items but as equal partners (Agarwal, 2012) and concerned with conservation by limiting the relentless persuasion of its usage. For instance, Guru (2013) explained how owing to the impoverished condition of the Dalits, natural resources are primarily a source of guaranteeing their livelihood, and not a source of profit. He also highlighted the strong emotional bonds Dalits as ‘insiders’ have with nature: close linkages that the urban elite is apathetic towards. In effect, it produces a certain kind of economy called ‘sustainable economy’ where it fulfils human needs, increases human creativity, protects all the living habitat/species, does not destroy environment, provides livelihood to millions of people, secures the health and does not create burden for women. At a broader level, it is compatible with the principle of equality and justice, which values employment for everyone.

However, this holistic relationship is destroyed by a specific aspect of modern philosophy which envisages modern man as not a part of nature but as an outside force destined to battle, dominate and conquer it (Escobar, 2008; Sachs, 2010; Schumacher, 1973). In short, human beings should show supremacy over nature and use nature maximally rather than slightly. This idea negates Buddhist philosophy according to which nature, society and human beings are treated on parity. Thus, modern philosophy paves the way for industrial economy where instrumental and utilitarian values rather than intrinsic values are stressed in order to have greater production by applying automation. In this horizon, nature is replaced from being an equal partner to an object to be dominated for its selfish ends at an alarming rate. Instrumental thought assume that nature is defenceless and inferior and men will have unlimited power, nourished by astonishing scientific and technological achievements. However, this vision fails to make distinction between capital and income as well as renewable and non-renewable resources. Thus, it seeks to exploit nature for maximum profit and product by introducing technology or machine where eventually men become mechanical slave and therefore erosion of human creativity as well as culture (Illich, 1975, pp. 73–77). This search for profit prevents them to consider the life securities of everyone and therefore dissociate from the concept of equality. It is imperative to show an alternative thought which we find in non-Brahminical framework and Buddhist philosophy with regard to environment. Ambedkar’s call for Dalits to occupy common grazing land is for their self-sufficiency and liberation from feudalism, rather for capitalist pursuit (Gokhale, 2019). In similar vein, Phule’s endorsement of modern technology for irrigation in drought prone Vidarbha region was actually for small dams, rather than big dams, which unnecessarily imposes human sufferings, that is, massive displacement (Omvedt, 2005a, p. 119). Underlining the threads of sustainable development in Ambedkar’s philosophy while simultaneously he being modern and rational, Omvedt (2007) compels us to understand the basic philosophical outlook of Ambedkar at a time when many environmentalists are preaching an anti-developmentalist ethic and urging a return to traditionalist practices. She clarifies, ‘Ambedkar would certainly have been aware of the problems of ecological destruction caused by unregulated overproduction, but he would even more certainly have seen the solution to this in a form of sustainable development, not a rejection of development as such’. Ambedkar here shares with Marx a positive appraisal of economic development—the development of the ‘forces of production’ and the potentials of wealth, choice and freedom made possible by this. He has no inclination towards the ascetic ‘limitation of needs’ and rejects what he calls a ‘pain economy’. Thus Ambedkar’s ‘moral economy’ which is outlined in a very sketchy way in Buddha or Karl Marx, is not contrasted either to a market economy or a planned economy as such but rather presents some alternatives that will make both market and state work for the good of the people (ibid., p. 311)’.

Given this broader objective, this article has been divided into four sections. The first section discusses methodology whereas the second section deals with how marginal community live with environmental burden unleashed through pharmaceutical and chemical industry and the third section focuses on the regulation, misuse of the environmental law and tactics to evade environmental regulation, while simultaneously, environmentalism of the subaltern albeit in limited manner. The fourth section comprehends the main argument of the article.

Methodology

Before proceeding to outline harmful effects of these industries, the manner in which some of these private and multinational industries are promoted by the state is crucial to grasp. The Gujarat state is highly industrialised and an economic powerhouse which openly embraced and invited multinational companies to invest in it and transformed agricultural land to non-agricultural enterprise. Gujarat’s state preceded the Indian union in promulgating a Special Economic Zone Act, 2004 (Sud, 2020). Consequently, a spate of Special Economic Zone (SEZ) projects has been earmarked back in 2006 in agricultural belt. While the Gujarat state was projected as the economic model for the rest of the country during 2014 election, indicators of human development such as pollution, nutrition, education, etc., ranked it as the lowest. This paradox can be gauged through the perils induced by transforming agricultural land for pharmaceutical and chemical industries. Strikingly, these industries were established in subaltern locations with the promise of ‘bringing development’ and the ruling dispensation boasted it as Gujarat’s asmita (pride). In rhetoric, the government had proclaimed that due to high unemployment in rural area, private and multinational pharmaceutical industries are the solution. With this trope, the regime could whittle its ill-conceived agricultural policy, squarely responsible for crisis in agriculture and extolled the virtues of pharmaceutical industry. Local dominant communities also articulated similar hopes expecting that these pharmaceutical companies would address their health-care needs when the former projected itself as embracing science. However, the state’s hijacking of science—via pharmaceutical companies—is not at all inclusive as the interests and protection of the subaltern population was overlooked. Pharmaceutical companies which were established in the villages of Matoda, Moraiya, Chacharavadi Vasna, etc., of the Sanand block of Ahmedabad, did not fulfil the health needs of the local villagers and subalterns and instead met the interest of the affluent sections and developed countries. For example, ZydusCadila, which is instituted in Moraiya, manufactures drugs related to fitness and animal health care whereas communicable diseases have been the main health problems of the locals. Pharmaceutical industries are established in the developing countries/periphery with the twin motive of higher productivity and profits. Since manufacturing costs can be reduced if it is established in periphery instead of Global north owing to availability of cheap labour and natural resources, one can see mushrooming of production units of pharmaceutical companies in the spaces of periphery. Moreover, crisis related to COVID-19 pandemic particularly during the second wave, debunked the myth of Gujarat’s pride via pharmaceutical companies to middle class and affluent Gujaratis when they struggled for Remdesivir injection (of Zydus Cadila) since it was unavailable in the market but were available in black market at an exorbitant price ¹ . Besides not serving the health needs of locals, these industries released harmful effluents which posed environmental insecurities and subjected Dalits to multiple risks which is discussed in the second section. This is akin to Beck’s (2008) warning that contemporary society is world of unbelievable contradiction and contrasts where risk is not national but global which occur around systematic causes that coincide with the motor of progress and profit (ibid., p. 431). He poignantly argued that risk is intimately connected with an administrative and technical decision making process. Risks are largely regulated by different actors—state officials, scientists, technologists and corporations—treating world as a laboratory (ibid., p. 360) and transferred hazardous industry from developed to low-wage countries of the third-world. These macro decisions render Dalits as sacrificial subjects owing to their multi-dimensional social exclusion, that is, participation in decision making and political process, access to material resources, etc. (Kumar, 2013).

From this standpoint, a critical appraisal of widely spread multinational chemical and pharmaceutical industries is worth doing. However, for this article, we are limiting to chemical and pharma industries sprawled in ‘Sarkhej-Bavla Highway’ in the Sanand block in Ahmedabad for the last two decades. This area is inhabited by multifarious marginal communities. The main industries are namely Intas Pharmaceuticals Limited, Zydus Cadila Healthcare Ltd, Claris Lifesciences Ltd ² , etc., consisting of ten villages. For the present study, four villages have been covered and field work was carried out for four months spanning from December 2014 to March 2015. Additionally, field visit was made in 2017–2018.

This article aims to showcase intersectional dimension of caste discrimination and economic exploitation while discussing environmental degradation. Specifically, how neoliberalism smartly appropriates caste system and its attendant inequality, resulting in pain and suffering of subaltern masses. Considering the necessity of drugs in improving human condition on one side and environmental and security challenges ingrained with the very issue of equality and justice on the other side, is the crux of the paper. Drawing from critical and anti-caste perspective of Omvedt (2005b), it raises few questions. How to relate the concept of caste inequality with environmental predicaments owing to massive corporate industrialisation in India? How to critically understand the regulatory parameters related to bio-diversity protection? Or whether ‘power’ plays an important role in setting these parameters? How to map ‘environmentalism of the poor’? ³

In terms of techniques, the study mainly relied on observation and in-depth interviews, consisting of twenty-five respondents. Interviews were primarily conducted with the local respondents who worked in the chemical industry as well as other categories like farmers, shopkeepers, animal breeders, teachers, migrant workers, etc. Simultaneously, some of the local environmental activists and journalists were interviewed. A detailed observation of agricultural fields, grazing lands, abandoned lands, ponds, lakes, housing, canals, industries, etc., provided enriching insights. Additional information were collected through local newspaper, covering the plights of farmers and other locals. Concomitantly, reports of Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) and reports from civil society organisation were quite helpful.

The main focus of the study has been on marginalised communities like SCs, STs, OBCs, Muslims, migrants and women since it intended to discuss the politics of environmentalism by highlighting the ‘environmentalism of the poor’ and iterates the need for environmental justice. The concept of environmental justice deliberates a number of arguments on the theory of social justice and distributive justice (Adebowale, 2008, p. 251). Second, by drawing from Sachs (2003), Beck (2008) and Omvedt (2005b), it explains how power relations established social differentiation which ensure that positive consequences get crystalised at the top end and negative consequences at the bottom end. This point has been substantiated through the case of Sarkhej-Bavala highway (landmarked as National Highway (NH) 8a) of Sanand block. Therefore, it looks at a host of problems faced by the subaltern communities as well as how they managed to live with environmental burden despite hardship.

Living with Environmental Burden

In this section, we describe the kind of environmental problems faced by deprived groups in Sanand. Environmental scholarship points out that ecological burdens are unequally shared, so that rich and affluent sections of the region are privileged enough to escape themselves from ecological hazards compared to poor and marginalised who lack resources to mitigate risk (Beck, 2008). This was echoed in Sanand area. When pharmaceutical and chemical industries were established, according to local marginalised populations, gradually the latent side-effects (Beck, 2008, p. 428) like destruction of bio-diversity, disappearance of the living habitats, decline of fertility of soil, etc. were noticed which in fact consolidated class and caste inequality. In concrete terms, it has detrimental effects on the subalterns when natural resources get destroyed, thus, it inevitably, punctures the state’s valorised account.

In Sanand block, some of the areas, which were rural two decades ago, now connected to city, due to the establishment of SEZs. So these places have transformed into Rurban ⁴ (urban) area in terms of well-connected transport service, private vehicles of the industry and a concrete road. Some local people joined these industries in menial jobs on contractual basis, meaning shift from agriculture to industrial occupation. Increase in transport services also heightened environmental pollution due to emission of carbon monoxide via vehicle in air. In these villages, most of the local people are Kolis, a marginal landowning community, which is enumerated as backward class by the state. Besides Kolis, scheduled castes, animal breeders, Thakors, Muslims and scheduled tribes reside here. Among SCs, Valmikis (hereditary engaged as sweepers), Rohit (alternatively called as Chamar and traditionally engaged in leather work) and Vankar (traditionally known for weaving) communities live here. In addition, migrants from other parts of the Gujarat and outside state also work in these chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Given Sanand’s marginal location, this article narrates several devastations ranging from pollutions to health impact to life-security to land dispossession through functioning of pharmaceutical/chemical industries.

When pharmaceutical and chemical industries were established in Sanand—which till then was rural, it precipitated multiple sets of problems, that is, first, it offered limited employment opportunity to a few locals rather than accommodating all, second, it created environmental pollution and degraded land which automatically slowed down the productivity of the agricultural land and third, life security of the commons were affected by this. In other-words, industries majorly destroyed the bio-diversity which had adverse consequences for local people who very often hail from marginalised community. Wastes dumped by chemical and pharmaceutical industries pollute the environment, ultimately created various kinds of health problems for the deprived sections of the people. During the fieldwork local people, spoke about suffering from diarrhoea, nausea, etcetera and several research institutes have predicted that these pollutions can cause a severe damage in near future in terms of precipitating serious illnesses that is asthma and cancer.

Before establishing pharmaceutical industry or any industry, land pooling is required, based on which land is allotted to these private industries by the state, therefore, it is obvious that there would be likely land-dispossession. However, in this case, land-transfer did not amount to direct conflict and struggle as the lands, which were acquired for the industry, belonged to dominant sections. As one finds in the spatial arrangement of the village, land ownership is disproportionately skewed towards dominant castes and their houses were found in the very entrance of the village. When village land was acquired for setting these industries, upper-caste villagers interestingly, traded their agricultural lands at a double price and gained from the recent legislation called ‘Industrial policy of 2009’ of the Gujarat state. This legislation was projected by the state as the initiative to make farmers equal partners in the land acquisition (Nair, 2005).

Here, a point to be noted that though nationally a similar regulation that is amendment to ‘Right to Fair Land Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement’ of 2015 was proposed, it remained as a controversial Bill in the Parliament owing to the dissent among the opposition parties, for diluting the significant clauses from the Land Acquisition Bill of 2013. However, in states like Gujarat, it was touted as farmer friendly. In other words, even if, this 2015 Act was successfully stalled by opposition and due to people’s resistance ironically, Gujarat and Maharashtra have already passed this legislation through Industrial Policy and crucially, land acquisition process was reported as smooth process. However, the question is for whom the land transfer process was smooth? Is the land transfer experience of upper caste landlords, similar to those of lower castes? Meddling of caste inequality during land transfer and pain inflicted on the marginal farmers due to pharmaceutical industries slowly and indirectly are the focal points. In the proceeding section, through the case study of a marginal farmer we show how land dispossession and pauperisation was gradually noticed which culminated in indirectly forcing farmers to sell out their land.

Pharma industries did not spare choice for the lower class neighbourhood community who were engaged in farming or marginal farmers.

I asked an industrial worker, ‘Do you have land?’ He said, ‘Now I do not have any land but one year ago I had land which I sold it through a broker because of the pharmaceutical industry-Claris’. Then I asked him, ‘why because of Claris’. He informed, ‘my land was located nearby Claris but from this industry polluted water is discharged to nearby canal. This industry does not follow environmental protocol for discharging polluted water. That is why they are discharging waste in nearby canal directly and this canal is connected to cultivable land. This industry also in mid-night dumps solid waste in the canal which damages the crops. As a result, my farm land was turned unproductive. Earlier I used to cultivate wheat, sorghum (Jawar) and rice. Because of waste, I sold it to … my immediate neighbour called HMB Patel (landowning community and forward caste). HMB initially sold his cultivable land for the establishment of Claris and migrated to city. After experiencing crop failure I decided to sell it. Therefore, I took the help of the broker because I thought there might be very few people who would be interested in this land. In that deal I got some money but I think broker took more share in it. I thought for a while about this but stopped thinking later when I got a job in the industry’.

(Excerpts from the field note conducted with an industrial worker belonged to SC community in Vasna Village on 18 December 2014).

As this field insight unravelled, when land became dysfunctional due to the contact of the soil with the toxic water containing chemical effluents, the Dalit marginal farmer was compelled to sell it out. It is worth iterating of Mencher (1974) who asserted that in rural areas, the major function of the large Dalit castes both in the past and today has been to serve as a source of agricultural labour. The greatest concentration of these large untouchable castes was and is to be found in the irrigated wheat and rice regions in the coastal belts of the south, north and western regions of India. She argued that even though they toiled in the fields either as share-cropper or agrestic slaves, they were denied owning land (except in some occasions given few cents to cultivate) due to the mystery of Dharma (duty) and Karma (re-birth) theory of Brahminical Hinduism. If this extensive system of economic exploitation and bondage continued in the past, in 21st century under neoliberalism, one sees subtle mechanism of dispossession of Dalit cultivators.

The impact of pharma industry on different sections of people is quite varied. For instance, in the case of an upper caste farmer called ‘Patel’ who owned large chunk of land could start his life in city afresh without hassles whereas the Dalit farmer had to sacrifice (selling land at a cheaper price) and confront many challenges. As Dalits have restricted access to both capital and social networks, his experience of land transfer was not profitable. Winrock International India-WII (2008) cautioned this danger when it remarked that ‘rural population show direct dependence on natural ecosystems. All their livelihood options are linked directly to ecosystem and hence their well-being is a direct function of the ecosystem health. Changing economic approach, promoting rapid industrialisation serve as a strong pull for the people resulting in occupational change in the rural areas, but this growing industrialisation hampers the sink capacity of the ecosystems leading to air, water and land pollution. This in turn indicates gaps in consequences of pollution on the marginalised classes who rely directly on nature for their subsistence and have limited access to modern technologies (water purifiers, filters) and health facilities (WII 2008: 15)’. Dalit farmer’s travails with pharmaceutical industry aptly corroborate Sachs’s (2010) point of how power creates social differentiations. In this case, consequences of land transactions differed according to caste status. Among these, the most severe impact is the way these industries affected life-securities of subaltern communities. In other words, we can say that it profoundly undermined the resource rights of the poorest and small land holding communities were dispossessed indirectly due to pharmaceutical companies.

The insidious forms of chemical industry are echoed in another set of marginalised groups like Rabari community at the Tajpur village of Sanand Block. Life security of the Rabari community who were engaged in animal husbandry too resonated with the plight of Dalit farmers. In the discourse around development, we mostly talk about the landlessness of the land-owning community while obfuscating the livelihoods of landless community which are dependent on common property resources like pond, lake, grazing land, road, etc. The common land in principle belongs to marginalised sections but when these public land is seized for private purpose, chemical industry, it totally jeopardise the livelihoods of the landless community like Rabaris and constitutionally, it is illegal. Agarwal (2012) asserts that access to village commons reduces income inequalities in the village between poor and non-poor households. Significantly, we need to pay attention to the gender and labour in the context of animal husbandry that except grazing, the task of milking, feeding animals by arranging weeds, collecting water, fodder, taking care of animals particularly new born care, administration of medicine, etc., predominantly falls on women. Village commons have always provided poor peasant and shepherd women and children, a source of subsistence, unmediated by dependency relationships on adult males. In their everyday interactions with nature, they acquire a special knowledge of species’ varieties and natural generation, enabling them to be a repository of knowledge about nature (Agarwal, 2012). Due to pollution of water bodies and absence of grazing space, Rabari women’s economic prospectus gets diminished. Compared to the previous case which showed the constraints faced by small land holding communities, Rabari community were affected the most by the chemical industry in terms of neither getting space for grazing their animals (buffalos) nor received any compensation on the death of animals because of drinking contaminated water. During the interview (dated 11.03.2015) a Rabari informed ‘I registered a complaint against the industries at a nearby police station of Chagodar. After complaining, GPCB took action against the company and was given closure notice. However, after three-four days that industry reopened as usual. However, I did not get any compensation’. Previously, Rabari women were dependent on village commons for food items like Gando Baval (prosopis juliflora) fruit, shrubs and Neem (azadirchta indica). However, with the extinction of common grazing land as well as agricultural fields, their nutritional security is at stake. Concomitantly, their work burden has multiplied as women have to venture long distance to collect fire wood, which affected their physical health and drained out their energy. Men from these communities move to urban areas in search of work.

Likewise, economic security of the fisher folk communities was also badly hit when polluted waters from the canal came in contact with the lake. For instance, Divya Bhaskar (news report dated 14.07.2022) pinpointed that thousands of fishes died in Sari Lake—covers villages like Lodariyal, Matoda and Sari—when contaminated water flew from Fatewadi canal and mixed with rainwater of Sari lake. Divya Bhaskar scathingly remarked that due to the sins of private companies lives of fishes were in danger ⁵ .

Interestingly, the woes of marginal farmers—land infertility—is also connected to shrinking of grazing space and downsizing of animal husbandry work. During an interview with a farmer from Koli community in February 2017, we learnt that as Rabaris withered from animal husbandry, marginal farmers who were using organic manures (dung of buffalos) had to use chemical fertilisers later which is another factor that lead to land degradation. Earlier Dalit farmers met their nutritional needs as well as protected environment by indulging in organic farming and crop rotation. But, later after selling farmland, they had to reduce consumption as it meant purchasing wheat and rice at a higher price from the market. Rabaris were no longer able to use wheat dry fodder, rice straw, jowar, etc., to feed animals like before due to unavailability of common grazing land, contamination of lake and scarcity of fodder items as these farm lands became waste lands. This brings to the point of loss of organic relations between knowledge, nature and social relations (exchange of rice and jawar straw with buffalo dung between Dalits and Rabaris) and circularity of social endangering. As eloquently argued by Sharma (2017), ‘Dalits are active ecological agents in their own right, and their understanding of nature and ethics, and planning and management of resources, labour, and environment are intertwined with narratives of social justice (ibid., p. xxvi)’.

Misuse of Environmental Laws

In this section, everyday reality of management and control of pollution by the state and violation of environmental regulations by these big pharma/chemical companies through the tacit support of the state are discerned. Previous section encapsulated the multiple predicaments and losses which subaltern communities had to experience owning to mixture of toxic waste materials released from the pharmacy industries into water. In this context, we need to consider the role of the state especially the manner in which it displays the image of welfare by pacifying farmers on one hand and multinational industrialists on the other. In order to appeal to the rural farmers, the government showed its pro-poor image in promising to provide Narmada water to the farmers for irrigation. However, this Narmada water is very hard (containing high minerals) as it comes from hilly area than the plains. Due to this, it affects the productivity of the crops especially wheat which otherwise is high if it is cultivated by normal water. According to Mehta (2013), earlier, in Sanand block land was very much productive for rice and wheat. Before the supply of Narmada water for farmers, the latter would get water from Sabarmati River. In addition, on this river around the 33,000 hector canal was built by the British government for the irrigation. However, recently this canal has been used for discharging polluted and wastewater of industries. Now soil erosion ensued because of contaminated water. Here pattern of rainfall has changed and rainfall has decreased. (ibid., pp. 27–28).

While discussing about the travails of farmers and bio-degradation, two inter-related facets need elaboration. First, when state government showed concern about the development of rural economy especially agriculture, it provided some kind of incentives to farmers like free water in order to reap electoral gains. However, in reality, state government was not interested in the real development of rural and marginalised people because government officers were mainly interested on showing this as data on paper statistically. Second, these industries discharge waste material and contaminated water in the canal. These contaminated water and toxic chemical wastes actually burned crops, which affected the land productivity qualitatively and quantitatively. It was also harmful for bio-diversity, flora and fauna, when industry discharged wastewater in the nearest canal. To summarise, these industries by disposing effluents into water bodies, precipitated multiple problems starting from land degradation, decreased the agricultural productivity, productive land becoming a waste land, health related problems, decay of animal habitats like fish, buffalo to climate change in terms of decrease in rain fall.

All these issues highlight the ominous side of the multinational pharmaceutical industries. It is instructive to deliberate a pertinent question raised by Hirway (2002)

What kind of impact this new pattern of industrialization will have on the state economy? Whether it is sustainable and whether it can generate enough employment opportunities in the economy. Theoretically, there are two approaches to industrialisation, namely, the Textile First approach and the Machinery First approach. While the former approach advocates highest priority to industries that produce non-durable consumer goods like textiles, sugar, tea, edible oil, etc., light engineering goods, intermediate goods and simple equipment and machines, the latter (approach) advocates heavy capital goods, basic inputs, etc., the first strategy tends to strengthen the industry-agriculture linkages, generates large scale employment as well as higher growth rates in the short run. The question is whether there is a need to push the second strategy through heavy incentives and concessions and promote industries that use non-renewable resources, frequently for exports and generate pollution that is difficult to control. It must be reiterated that industrial development is necessary for economic diversification and for economic growth. However, to impose modern capital-intensive industries on the fragile ecology of backward regions will not be sustainable. In short, the issue is about the development strategy of backward regions. (ibid., pp. 13–14)

If state’s water distribution policy negatively affects the marginal farmers such as Rabaris, misuse of the environmental laws (GPCB) by the industries brought other woes to the local farmers. Talking about the disposal of wastewater with a journalist who is also an environmental activist in Ahmedabad region, disclosed that some industries in fact threw wastewater of the petrochemical industry without purifying properly. Another journalist confided that as per the law, it is mandatory for the chemical industry to treat wastewater before discharging outside so that contagious particles can be removed. In fact, the main author had observed that chemical effluents are discharged on the highways which are adjacent to the agricultural fields. In this connection, Gadgil and Guha’s (1994)’s explanation is apt, ‘with the air and water being “free goods”, it makes perfect economic sense for the private enterprise to pollute his surroundings instead of investing in technologies and safely dispose of effluents’. Another illegality is the vehicle, which is used for unloading and discharging waste. The vehicle is illegal, as it does not have any number plate. Some of our respondents revealed that, officers from the nearby industries lured the local people to allow this direct disposal of waste for monetary benefits. While the residents who allowed them to dispose waste directly gained money but it also affected their health as well as the health of others and hampered agricultural lands.

Pollution norms of Gujarat state explains the manner in which powerful groups like industrialists in reality violate these regulations. The audit report of State Pollution Control Board (2006) indicates that

Due to negligence of Zydus-Cadila management, ground water has been contaminated at Moraiya Plant and GPCB found that it has violated environmental provision of the Prevention and Control of Pollution Act 1974. The industry did not meet the requirements as prescribed by or under the previously mentioned statutory provisions. And, the industry has not complied with the terms and conditions of the consent/provisional consent/NOC and other provisions of the GPCB. The industry shall be liable to appropriate directions including direction for closure or for payment of compensation for affected people and areas, betterment of environment and general monitoring subject to appropriate direction of the court and of all statutory authorities. The GPCB shall place this fact before the court by producing a report to that effect and that the industry shall be liable to be subjected to appropriate directions including direction for closure and/or directions for payment of compensation. (ibid., p. 9)

Ominously, Rajagopal (2016) reported in The Economic Times that Cadila Healthcare has come under the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) glare for not following good manufacturing practices, making it the third Indian company in the past three months to face FDA’s ire on 1st January 2016. A warning letter is an escalation of Form 483 (which notes adverse observations about quality and compliance of a facility that needs the manufacturer needs to address) by the USFDA. As per the norms, chemical oxygen demand (COD) in water should be between zero and a maximum of 2 mg/l. GPCB officials have found a COD value of over 150 mg/l from water discharged by the unit ⁶ .

It is generally seen that when contaminated water is discharged illegally by industries near agricultural land, farmers who are mostly from lower caste find it difficult to raise their voice against the company due to their powerlessness. When farmers individually complain, industries provide some token amount just to offset the protests. Also in some cases when farmers went collectively, industry was shut for some time but after a few days, it had reopened. Ballabh and Singh (1997) contended that being poor and unorganised, the victims of the pollution cannot even claim any compensation from the industries and the Municipal Corporation (state body) who are responsible for their miseries. The industrial lobby is so strong that even the judiciary and political leaders find it difficult to do anything to ameliorate the lot of the poor victims of pollution (Ballabh & Singh, 1997, p. 36).

Many a times when people observed that their complaints were not addressed in concerted manner by the authorities, they followed a tactics. Instead of taking legal routes like filing petitions, subaltern villagers via panchayat directly confronted the industry and raised their problem. As subaltern villagers had moral capital, it was seen that pharma and chemical companies were indirectly pressurised to pay the compensation in the form of funding for the school and rural development projects. It was also observed that some locals went individually and Industry personnel tried to appease them through giving some amount. In-fact, it has been observed that these industries keep deliberately a cashier to hand over a paltry amount to the local instantly knowing that waste disposal would provoke opposition from the neighbourhood. Recent scholarship, observing on the ‘environmentalism of the poor and lower caste’ made a point of departure by noting that deployment of this strategy by marginalised groups—not just petitioning collectively and handling through due process—is also a political act, as state and its alliance with private sector also indulge in illegal act. Chaterjee (2004) in particular while noting about the creative politics of the poor, argued that the success of this strategy is temporal and contextual.

Additionally, misuse of environmental law by some of pharmaceutical industries and chemical industries is seen in terms of contaminating not only surface water but also ground water. Some industries followed GPCB norms—most strikingly under the rubric of corporate social responsibility such as financing for school –but few of those clauses, whereas equally, they too abuse some other crucial norms. On one-side representatives from pharmaceutical companies said, ‘we follow norms of government’ but in reality, these industries violate that norm.

Consider the following exchange of a respondent (dated 15.03.2015) who is an activist hailing from Bavla, explaining how industries flouted environmental laws:

According to environmental law, any big multinational industries have minimum 33% reserved for green tribunal. Therefore, through this law many industries are misusing this law. Most of pharmaceutical industries are in the name of green tribunal get permission for one bore-well for water consumption and maintain greenery. For the latter, these industries actually make small gardens and lawns in their office premises so that it will be reflected in their report and can provide as a proof during the public hearing. However, instead of digging and using one bore-well, they secretly dig three bore-wells and dump their hazardous wastes. As a result, ground water of the locality gets contaminated. The consequence of these hazardous materials gets visible any time. It also impacts agriculture. This is already seen in Moraiya village.

Additionally, activist shared that the problem gets compounded when industries manage to evade penalty because of strong proximity they have with political class. To put it straight, as these industries are connected to one or the other political leader, it creates problem for the lower caste people to raise their voice against these industries. It is this context we must understand about the challenges local lower caste people encounter in opposing these industries and the backlash they could face from the dominant community. This explains a critical question, why locals avoid resisting against the pharmaceutical companies despite facing bio-degradation, loss of livelihoods and ill-health. Field study pointed out that because of the social capital ⁷ , that is, strong nexus of the political class with industrialist; industrialists enjoy impunity despite flouting green laws whereas powerless people who were worst affected face several threats. Considering all these obstacles, local communities deploy tactics to manage the ecological problems in their own way on everyday basis.

Loss incurred by Rabaris demonstrates violations of the international conventions. For instance, UNDP (2007), highlights that for sustainable development to take place and for effective biodiversity conservation, all plans have to be grounded on the two important principles—Ecological Security and Livelihood Security. This is primarily because in a country like India, the livelihoods of the vast majority of the rural population are directly dependent on natural resources and elements of biodiversity in them. Ecological security is critical because it provides for the survival of tens of thousands of species of plants and animals, as the basic ecosystem services upon which human food, health, water, and cultural security are dependent. The intense interdependence between livelihood security and ecological security makes this segment of the rural population the primary rights—holders and stakeholders in biodiversity conservation with sustainable use. The women and men of communities living in biodiversity rich areas have acquired rich indigenous ecological knowledge through generations of interaction with local ecosystems, which they have shaped, and which, in turn have shaped their cultures, lifestyles and livelihoods. Community based natural resource management is hence a very vital approach to enabling both the conservation of biodiversity as well as supporting local livelihoods (UNDP, 2007, p. 4).

Similarly, Sutcliffe (1995) emphasised on the importance of redistribution that consists of two critical concepts, for example, Human and Sustainable Development. It involves an improvement in the relative access to resources of excluded people. Without attention to sustainability, human development improves distribution in the present at the cost of worsening the distribution between present and future. In this case, the unborn subsidise the poor. Inversely, without human development, sustainability means maintaining the material levels of the over-endowed and reducing the level of the poor, thus worsening distribution in the present (the poor subsidise the unborn and the rich). It is only by understanding these dialectics, one can explain how redistribution of resources takes place in the present. If negative environmental impacts are reduced then it will be more difficult to implement human development unless the rich of the today accept a disproportionate decline in their use of resources and production of wastes. The conflict between the poor of today and the unborn exists to the extent that a real reduction in the negative environmental impact of the rich of today is not contemplate. Thus, human development is in danger of being unsustainable unless there is redistribution; and sustainable development is in danger of being anti-human unless it has accompanied by redistribution (ibid., p. 333).

Discussion

If key to sustainable development is redistribution and equity, then development of pharmaceutical and chemical companies in agricultural belt unambiguously reverses this idea. In a nutshell, this article mainly sheds light on how marginalised communities were forced to experience different types of challenges due to the establishment of pharmaceutical and chemical industries in their locality. This is a clear example of durable inequality and structural violence perpetuated through the macro decisions of state officials, technocrats, corporates and scientists. In this context, an attempt is made to discuss environmental issues not in an isolated manner rather related to the issue of job security, health security, security of agriculture, etc., and from the perspective of Dalits. Therefore, it is not a matter of conserving nature but deeply related to power inequality—caste and class. Importantly, environmental burden is unequally shared in terms of upper-caste people expose lower-caste people to hazardous waste by setting up petrochemical industry whereas upper-caste people are hardly affected by these dangers. This article also explained how despite facing multiple forms of discriminations, poor could not make concerted effort to resist through legal route as state, political power as well as money power controls the legal process. Nevertheless, it showed the environmentalism of the poor and the manner in which they oppose sporadically these industrial wastes. Moreover, this explains how laws being violated conveniently by the industries but local people were made to live with ‘false consciousness’.