The automobile manufacturing sector in the state is in dire need of stricter regulating and monitoring. So asserts the report of an official study team that was constituted to look into the state of environmental clearances in Karnataka.
The research team came to this conclusion after studying the facilities of and environmental clearances accorded to two of the largest automobile manufacturers in the state — Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts Pvt Ltd and Toyota Kirloskar Motors Pvt Ltd at Bidadi, and Volvo India Pvt Ltd and Volvo Buses India Pvt Ltd at Hoskote.
The said report of the Environmental Management and Policy Research Institute (EMPRI), which was directed by the state department of forest, ecology and environment (DFEE), is not yet in the public domain, having been held back by the department.
In case of Volvo, it concurred, "From an appraisal of documents, it appears that Volvo has been assembling buses and trucks in the same area of 118 acres, even though the original 1999 SECC clearance was accorded to manufacture only trucks and trailers."
The EMPRI report said its assessment was based on a review of records secured from DFEE since no documentation was provided by Volvo India despite several requests.
On March 17, 1999, DFEE cleared the assembly and finishing of 1,000 trucks and trailers per annum. Apart from this and mention of survey numbers of land allocated, the document did not provide any specific information of the project, the processes involved or prescribe conditions specific to the facility, apart from the standard requirement of setting aside 33 per cent of the land area as open green space and instructing compliance with conditions imposed by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB).
The team found that SECC accorded clearance to Volvo India only to manufacture trucks and trailers in 1999, and that no clearance was accorded for manufacture of buses until 2010. However, the website of Volvo Buses states: “In 2001, Volvo Buses introduced a world class inter-city coach based on a true-bus chassis and rear engine.....The new multi-axle coach is built by Volvo in India at its state-of-the art plant in Hoskote.”
The clearance for assembly and manufacturing of 1000 units/annum of bus body was accorded by SECC to Volvo Buses on January 20, 2010 vide clearance no FEE 190 ECO 2008. The EMPRI report remarked, "Prima facie it appears the Volvo bus division may have operated without any environmental clearance between 2001 and 2010."
It said, "All these factors seem to have gone unnoticed by SECC and remain un-investigated, thus far, as per records. Even after the accordance of the clearance to the Volvo bus division in 2010, there appears to have been no review of compliance with conditions of the environmental clearance granted by SECC. Neither has any action been initiated for the truck manufacturing facility operating without necessary clearances."
A Volvo Buses spokesperson countered, "The point indicates a misunderstanding of our business set-up. In 2001 to 2008, Volvo bus bodies were manufactured by an external bodybuilder under technology licence from Volvo Buses. The bus bodies were not produced at Volvo India Private Limited. In 2008, Volvo set up a factory which was under a JV with the external body builder under the name of Volvo Busbodytechnologies. In 2010,Volvo bought out the stake of the JV partner and to become a wholly owned subsidiary, where its name had already changed to Volvo Buses India Private Limited."
On the other hand, Volvo India reacted, "Volvo sets out and complies with very high standards of safety, legal and environmental care in all its facilities and processes, and therefore, we are more than glad to showcase our manufacturing facilities to all our important guests and visitors. In fact, our representative at the factory that evening also requested the SECC officers to visit the factory again."
The Volvo India reaction was in response to the mention in the report that company officials did not allow for a survey of the facility as they claimed they had not been informed sufficiently in advance. A company spokesperson said, "The officials visited Volvo India on August 12, 2013, by which time shift operations for the day had come to a close. Due to considerations of visitors’ safety, we requested the officials to visit the factory during working hours any other day, so that they can have a properly guided tour of the factory, with all safety measures that are observed as a standard for factory visits."
In case of the Toyota establishment, the preliminary draft report had said, "The company has not provided any documentation requested by EMPRI. " Toyota, however, had subsequently shared all documents with the EMPRI research team. The report also mentioned, "On the controversy resulting from observations by the Hon'ble Lok Adalat that the company was discharging untreated effluents into the Vrishabhavathi stream and Byramangala lake, company officials strongly denied this possibility."
Toyota vice-chairman and director, Shekar Viswanathan, dispelled such allegations, and stressed on the argument that Toyota was a responsible company and had its own high international standards to maintain, not only in India but also globally. A subsequent statement remarked, "All the water waste resulting from our manufacturing processes, is recycled and used for various other activities like gardening, etc. While we appreciate the efforts made towards arresting the pollution of the rivers in Bidadi, we would like to make it abundantly clear that we do not pollute the Byramangala Lake. "
