CEM responds to community or NGO requests for assistance with campaigns against industrial pollution by providing technolegal support. CEM trains youth from pollution-impacted communities to monitor pollution, generate evidence and to use that evidence for public campaigning and legal cases.
While trainings for community environmental monitoring have been provided to communities from various states, the program has a longer-term association with community groups and NGOs from Himachal Pradesh’s Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh Industrial area and the Korba coal mining and allied industries region in Chattisgarh.
The Baddi Barotiwala Nalagarh industrial area (BBN) on the banks of the Sirsa river is the source of pollution of various kinds (such as air- and waterpollution) and a serious health threat to the communities and population surrounding the area. With fine dust exceeding the limits acceptable to health, respiratory disorders and deseases are widespread.
The industrial zone is a hub for the production of consumer goods and is host for multiple national and multinational corporations. In collaboration with local NGOs, CEM carried out a number of air samples to prove the drastic levels of air pollution. Moreover, through making use of the RTI, a number of violations and illegal operations in the region were revealed.