Event

Kodaikanal mercury case

Fifteen-year dispute over mercury exposure at the Kodaikanal thermometer factory, settled in March 2016.

6 links, 0 backed by primary records

Connections 6

Hindustan Unilever Unilever's website statement of 2015 said extensive studies had found no evidence of harm; activists disputed it According to Hindustan Unilever Scholarship & press 1
Hindustan Unilever objected to the central government committee's prima facie finding of harm and filed petitions, still pending when the case settled Scholarship & press 2
Hindustan Unilever settled with 591 former workers; payments undisclosed Scholarship & press 2
Ponds Hindustan Lever Ex-Mercury Employees' Welfare Association petitioned the Madras High Court; says exposure caused deaths and serious illness Scholarship & press 3
Hindustan Lever thermometer factory, Kodaikanal where the exposure took place; a central government committee counted about 45 deaths and over 600 people exposed Scholarship & press 3

Timeline 1 date

Proof 3 sources

Why Unilever's response on Kodaikanal mercury dumping is not good enough: A point-by-point rebuttal, The News Minute. Scholarship & press
What Unilever said : "...extensive studies on the health of our former workers and the Kodaikanal environment have not found any evidence of harm..."
After 15-year fight, Hindustan Unilever Limited to pay workers, Deccan Chronicle, 10 Mar 2016. Scholarship & press
The company objected to the same and filed petitions, which were also pending.
the Central government appointed committee after enquiry held there was prima facie evidence that not only the ex-workers but also their new born children have suffered on account of mercury exposure.
counsel for both parties produced the settlement records in a sealed cover
Hindustan Unilever, former employees settle mercury poisoning case after 15 years, Scroll.in, 9 Mar 2016. Scholarship & press
The association that represented the former employees had said that the exposure to the toxic vapour during their employment led to loss of life and health effects such as miscarriages, kidney and nervous system damages, and mental disability in children, reported The Hindu.
A central government committee found that around 45 people had died and over 600 were exposed to toxic vapours during the 19 years that the factory had operated.
The thermometer factory was shut in 2001 by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board following allegations of toxic mercury being dumped in Kodaikanal.

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