A disaster management committee constituted recently to deal with pollution and other problems of villagers along the effluent channel project (ECP) in Vadodara is in the eye of a storm. The reason: its composition. The seven-member committee does not include any local representative but has a strong representation of the industry and the administration: members from Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation, Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), Nandesari Industrial Association, Shiva Pharmaceuticals, Sterling Gelatine and the district Collectorate. The channel carries effluents from the chemical factories around Vadodara to the sea at Mahi estuary.

Local activists and farmers have labelled the whole exercise of the committee's formulation a sham. "Around 40,000 farmers have been affected in the villages along the ECP but they have been excluded from the body created to solve their problems. This is nothing but a farce,' alleges Kiritbhai Amin of Farmers' Action Group. He says the committee would be of no use unless all stakeholders find representation in it. Instead of penalising the polluters, the administration and the GPCB have blamed the farmers for groundwater pollution, Amin points out, adding: "They say farmers use water from the channel and this contaminates groundwater. This is not true. Why should we use channel water when we have access to the water of the Narmada canal?' But S N Jha, GPCB's regional officer in Vadodara, says the committee would hold discussions with the villagers and consult the sarpanchs of affected villages.