Deadly fumes

Jamshedpur, March 19: Chandil block in Seraikela-Kharsawan, famous for production of sealing wax, has been deprived of a fresh crop this year.

The pollution caused by over a dozen sponge iron units in Chandil and Chowka seems to have adversely affected the production of sealing wax and the traditional source of income of hundreds of tribal families that grow the product in forests around Chandil and Chowka.

Somnath Munda, one of the growers, told The Telegraph that he had tried to grow the product and fixed the plant roots like earlier, but there was no result.

“I do not know why it did not yield the wax this time. The layer of black dust that enveloped the tree’s branches could be the culprit,” said Munda, a resident of Govindpur village in Chowka who has a family of six.

“First, we were deprived of the pond water after it became poisonous. Then, it was the turn for the vegetables and now, it is killing our traditional source of income.”

The sealing wax is a kind of resin secreted by Palas, Kusum and Berry trees after a specific type of plant-roots are fixed on the branches of the trees. The growers fix the plant roots on these trees in September and harvest the crop of in April and May.

Each kg of the product fetches Rs 100 in the local market and the farmers do not face a problem in getting their products sold. On an average, each farmer grows a quintal of sealing wax every year. But this time, the farmers are nowhere to be seen as the trees did not yield the resin.

R.K. Sinha, the member secretary of state pollution control board, termed it to be a serious thing.

“I would convey the message to my regional officer in Seraikela-Kharsawan district immediately so that he would submit a report,” Sinha said.

He added that he had asked his regional officer, to close down Sidhi Vinayak Sponge Iron Company in Chowka as the management had defied implementing the pollution control board’s directive to fix an electro-static precipitator meant for checking pollution that sponge iron units are notorious for.