Click to play videoMumbai: Hindustan Lever Limited's (HLL) annual general meeting in Mumbai had some rather unusual visitors.
The unwelcome visitors include Ruth Priya and her two sons Pradeep and Pradeesh from Kodaikanal – voicing their daily struggle with ulcers in the mouth, cerebral palsy and deformed limbs.
The reason behind these silent protestors’ woes was mercury poisoning.
“I used to work in the factory when I was pregnant, now one of my kids has ulcers in the mouth,” said Ruth Priya an ex-employee.
Ruth was just one of the 1,000 strong work force at HLL's Kodaikanal factory that manufactured thermometers.
The Kodaikanal factory, which had been in operation since 1984, was acquired by HLL in 1997.
The factory was shut down in 2001 due to allegations of mercury poisoning in the region.
The company claims it exported 285 tonnes of mercury waste to the US in 2003 and sent 98 tons of scrap to local recycling agents.
But the remnants allegedly continue to poison Kodaikanal's environment.
“Roughly 20 tonnes of mercury have been emitted from the factory site in Kodaikanal,” said former Greenpeace toxics campaigner Navroz Mody.
Mercury is a multi-organ toxin and causes lung, kidney and brain damage as it impacts the nervous system.
“Twenty employees of an average age of 35 have died of kidney failure,” informed Ponds Hindustan Lever Ltd Ex Mercury Welfare Association general secretary Raja Mohamed.
But the FMCG giant, with net sales of over Rs 120 billion, declined to comment stating the matter is subjudice and pending before the Madras High Court.
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