A view of the Kandra Township. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, June 10: Displacement and pollution are not the only fall-outs of industrialisation.

A case in point is Kandra, a town located about 25km away in Seraikela-Kharsawan district, where people led a life of misery for over a decade after the closure of Seraikella Glass Works in 1993. Life now has returned to normalcy.

About 3,000 families living around this small township, who were planning to migrate in search of greener pastures, have found reasons to stay back thanks to rapid industrialisation in the area in the past few years.

The place now has more than 10 companies, including Adhunik Steel and Neelanchal Steel, to provide livelihood to dependant families. Since the place did not have good arable land they did not face the problem of displacement and impact on agriculture.

“After the closure of the glass factory, we were left with no money. Most of us worked on daily wages in small-scale companies in the Adityapur industrial area and civil construction sites. With rapid industrialisation, our life has changed. Our monthly income has increased and, in many cases, has gone up by three times,” said Meva Lal.

“There are many families that now have two to three earning members. Each family has at least a two-wheeler. All this has happened because of industrialisation,” he said.

B. Gopal, who has a general store on the main road connecting Jamshedpur to Chowka via Kandra, said: “In the past few years, my business has doubled. From early in the morning till late in the night I have customers.”

The only drawback of rapid industrialisation, feel members of the 3,000-odd families that are directly and indirectly benefited, are pollution concerns.

“Along with the extra money we now get, we also face problems of pollution due to increased traffic and emission from the companies,” said a resident, Durga Sonkar.

“A large number of people have developed respiratory problems and there is acute shortage of water during summer months as the water table has been depleted,” he added.

However, corporate houses have promised that the problem due to emission would be redressed shortly. Adhunik Steel, according to its public relation manager Chandra Bhusan Sharma, has already initiated the process of installation of equipment worth Rs 17 lakh to bring down emission to almost zero per cent.

“According to emission rules of the pollution control board, the emission level of our company is well within the limit. Since we want a better environment for our employees and their families, a modern system is being installed to bring down emission to almost zero per cent. It is expected to be in place within a couple of months,” he added.