Asbestos in India
India’s stance on the mining and use of asbestos
products continues to be a hotly contested and controversial topic on
the world stage because its government’s relative unwillingness to
institute any ban or regulatory requirements concerning asbestos.
As a result, many citizens of India are regularly exposed to asbestos
fibers while many fear that a health crisis may be on the horizon if
nothing is changed.
Call us at (800) 278-8675 to speak with a mesothelioma paralegal
The problems regarding asbestos and the number of mesothelioma, asbestosis,
and other forms of lung cancer in India have been attributed primarily
to sudden economic developments that occurred in the last century and
led to rapid needs for expansion. However, amid the rushed process of
constructing buildings, many of which contained asbestos products,
workers dealt with regular asbestos exposure
to particles in the air with little-to-no protective gear. In some
cases, workers cleaned asbestos fibers that had come out of machines off
the floor with their bare hands.
In total, a 2008 report titled “India’s Asbestos Time Bomb” that was
published by the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat found that 6.7
million tons of asbestos had been used in India between 1960 and 2006
and had likely exceeded 7 million tons in the time since the period the
data was taken.
While India’s Supreme Court has ordered that the country to abide by
asbestos restrictions set in place by International Labour Organization
regulations in 2006, the government still chose not to comply, leading
some to believe that the decision was influenced by asbestos
stakeholders in both India and Canada. The avoidance of the regulations
was only one of many examples of India’s state and local governments
holding off on addressing the dangers of developing mesothelioma and
asbestos-related diseases due to exposure to the fibers.
With no restrictions on asbestos use being implemented in India, a
growing number of groups and protestors have ramped up their efforts to
show the catastrophic consequences of unregulated asbestos use that
could occur in the country in the near future, while also pusing for the
implementation of mesothelioma laws.
Workers in India continue to be exposed to asbestos both in mines - the
IBAS reported that the asbestos cement industry in India had a 9
percent annual growth rate in 2008 – or in homes that were built using
the dangerous fibers.