There’s death in the air here: in a village in Rajasthan, silicosis caused by sand mining has reached epidemic-like levels

Khemchand Yadav, 70, and Phoru Lal, 55, are neighbours in Dabi village in Rajasthan’s Bundi district. They have similar physical attributes — eyes like bottomless pits set in hollow cheeks and bones sticking out from frail bodies. They cough and draw deep breaths when they talk. They both suffer from silicosis, the fatal respiratory disease.

For most men in this region, and in the neighbouring districts of Kota and Bhilwara, silicosis killed their fathers and they know it will kill their sons. And despite the 7th Asian Mining Congress held last month in Kolkata, where the head of the Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS) admitted that silicosis was a “concern”, nothing looks likely to change soon.

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Courtesy: The Hindu

Trudeau government to introduce new law in 2018 to make polluters pay

Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna has confirmed that the free ride for Canada’s climate-polluting industries will legally come to an end.

The federal government is ready to force polluters to pay for their carbon emissions and will introduce a new law — as planned — in 2018 to achieve that goal, said a spokeswoman for McKenna.

“We’ve been very clear that there needs to be a price on carbon across Canada in 2018 and we will be introducing legislation to make that a legal requirement,” Marie-Pascale Des Rosiers told National Observer on Nov. 23. “Many provinces and territories already have systems in place or are working hard to adopt them ahead of that deadline.”

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Courtesy: National Observer

Visualising the human price of gold

In May 2016 the South African High Court (Gauteng Local Division) granted an order in the case of Nkala and Others v Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited and Others that certified a consolidated class action against 32 mining companies. The action had been brought by mineworkers who had contracted silicosis by breathing in the silica dust that is generated during mining, along with their dependents. This disease can take many years to manifest, is incurable, debilitating and often fatal.

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Courtesy: Open Democracy

In 2016, malnutrition caused most death and disability in Gujarat

Child and maternal malnutrition continue to account for most death and disability in Gujarat, besides dietary risk and air pollution, according to a recent report, India: Health of the Nation’s States. The report, prepared by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Public Health Foundation of India and Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, provides estimates of the impact of 333 diseases and injuries and 84 risk factors for every state from 1990 to 2016.

According to the study, malnutrition caused maximum death and disability in 1990 and maintained its position till 2016, especially among the children in the age group of 0-9 years.

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Courtesy: The Times of India

Silicosis patient yet to get compensation

JAIPUR: Prem Lal Meghwal of Chainpura in Asind, Bhilwara, can scarcely take two steps without panting for breath. He is only 38, father of four children, the oldest of whom is a married daughter, 18 years old.
He has been bedridden with silicosis for over five years, and his wife now sets out to find work at construction sites or in farms, to keep the household going.

Meghwal has a certificate dated December 27, 2016, showing that he is suffering from silicosis.

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Courtesy: The Times of India

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