Massive street protests held after Indian court closes polluting factories

Protesting workers say they will lose their livelihoods if the courts order their industries to be closed

In this story: India's Supreme Court take action Workers say court order misguided RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

NEW DELHI, India -- Tens of thousands of workers in India's capital have taken to the streets to protest a Supreme Court order that requires all polluting industries be shut down and relocated.

New Delhi's workers say they will lose their livelihoods of the court orders are enforced. But environmentalists say the court is doing the right thing in trying to clean up what they say is one of the world's most polluted cities.

On Monday, police flooded New Delhi and arrested activists, successfully staving off widespread protests by the workers.

VIDEO CNN's Satinder Bindra reports on the protest Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

The closures were ordered by the Supreme Court in 1996 and have been repeatedly postponed. But with more than 800,000 people working in such small-scale factories and the court refusing to delay any longer, authorities had feared violence.

Last week, three people were killed and 40 were injured in demonstrations over the court's decision. Also last week, workers set fire to government offices, buses and a railroad engine.

There were small flare-ups Monday, when as many as 100,000 people took to the streets to protest.

Workers gathered near their factories in East Delhi, and police fired tear gas to disperse a mob in an industrial area in suburban Shahdara. In Basai Darapur in west Delhi, police burst 30 tear gas shells to stop protesters.

There were no reported casualties, but 16 people were arrested on charges of disturbing the peace.

Police arrested 15 people in their homes before dawn to prevent them from rallying workers. Fifty others were detained during the day for the same reason.

New Delhi is one of the most polluted cities in the world

India's Supreme Court take action

Delhi is considered one of the most polluted cities in the world. Jokes are told about children growing up here without knowing that the sky is normally blue.

In 1996, the Supreme Court first identified 125,000 small factories that it said were responsible for the capital's mounting air and water pollution. It ordered them relocated or closed.

The court then issued a series of orders to clean up the city of 12 million people, including one to stop industries from dumping untreated waste into the Yamuna River. There were other rulings meant to halt traffic and industry emissions that keep New Delhi's sky gray for most of the year.

The date to comply with the court was postponed three times after the government in New Delhi -- which is a separate state -- requested more time to relocate the factories.

Finally, this year, the high court told the Delhi government to close the final 2,245 factories by November 23 or face contempt charges. All the factories were sealed and shut by then.

The court action was welcomed by environmentalists, who claim thousands of people annually die of lung illnesses in New Delhi.

Workers say court order misguided

Factory owners, workers and their families say they will become jobless under the court order. They also said the order covers many nonpolluting small industries such as flour mills and tailoring shops.

"We are not arguing against the closure of the polluting industries," said Sudershan Sareen of the Small Industries Action Committee. "We are protesting against the blanket categorization of all factories, whether polluting or nonpolluting, and in one stroke they are being shut down."

For political reasons, the Delhi government, headed by the Congress party, does not want to antagonize thousands of workers and their families.

But the Supreme Court has said it will not grant another extension of the deadline to shut down the factories, nor will it permit dilution of its order to let nonpolluting industries like tailoring units and flour mills to continue.

Trade union leaders and factory owners say hundreds of thousands of people are affected by the closure orders.

Much of the pollution is caused by small industries such as leather tanneries, plastic, chemical and limestone factories and slaughterhouses.

CNN New Delhi Bureau Chief Satinder Bindra and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

India's capital braces for trouble as workers strike
November 26, 2000

Supreme Court of India
CIA -- The World Factbook 2000 -- India
Delhi-India
Scoop: World Bank Funding Pollution In India

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.