KOCHI, India— Eloor smells like it is dying.
Once it was an island of rich farmland on the Periyar River, 17 km (10.5 miles) from the Arabian sea, teeming with fish. Now, a stench of putrid flesh permeates the air. Most of the fish are gone. Locals say people living near the river are hardly even having children anymore.
Yet here is Shaji, alone in his small fiber boat, fishing with his handmade rod, the southern Indian state of Kerala’s massive industrial smokestacks behind him.
Some 300 chemical companies belch out dense fumes, almost warning people to stay away. The waters have taken on dark hues. Shaji, a fisherman in his late 40s who only uses one name, is among the few who remain.
“Most of the people here are trying to migrate from this place. If we look at the streets, it’s almost empty. There are no jobs and now we cannot even find work on the river,” said Shaji, displaying the few pearl spot fish he managed to catch during an entire day in March.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is part of a series produced under the India Climate Journalism Program, a collaboration between The Associated Press, the Stanley Center for Peace and Security and the Press Trust of India.
Many of the petrochemical plants here are more than five decades old. They produce pesticides, rare earth elements, rubber processing chemicals, fertilizers, zinc-chrome products and leather treatments.
Some are government owned, including Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore, established in 1943, Indian Rare Earths Limited, and Hindustan Insecticides Limited.
Residents say the industries take in large amounts of freshwater from the Periyar and discharge concentrated wastewater with almost no treatment.
Anwar C. I., who uses initials for his last name in the custom of southern India, is a member of a Periyar anti-pollution committee and a private contractor who lives in the area. He said residents have grown accustomed to the reek that seems to hang over the area like a heavy curtain, enveloping everything and everyone.
The groundwater is now fully contaminated and the government’s contention that the businesses benefit people is wrong, he said.
“When they claim to provide employment to many people through industrialization, the net impact is that the livelihood of thousands is lost,” Anwar said. People cannot make a living from ruined land and water.