INTRODUCTION:

India’s rapid industrialization aided by the economic planning since mid-fifties has created enormous pressure on its environmental resources like water land & air have become dumping grounds of industrial waste with toxic materials in the absence of environmental law protecting them.¹

Rapidly growing demand of the industrial products for the intermediary and final uses in the post independent India has contributed to the growth of a number of industries which are more intensive in the use of environmental resources. There has been a phenomenal growth of industries like chemicals, fertilizers, paper and pulp, sugar, distilleries, oil refineries, coal fired thermal power generation among others during the last forty years.

One of such industries is rice mills. This study is related to the environmental damages caused by the rice mills. So, let us find what the main activities of a rice mill are and how it is causing damages to the environment.

Environmental concern of the rice mills:

Rice mills are operating in various parts of the country for obtaining finished rice from raw paddy. In this process various kinds of environmental concerns arises like:

Husk is burnt in the parboiled rice mills for generation of steam. Burning of husk generates particulate matter and Sulphur Di-oxide which are being let out to the environment through stacks. The parboiled rice mills also consume water in production process and let out waste water to the local drains. The BOD concentration is fairly high in the wastewater of parboiled rice mills. Uncontrolled discharge of this wastewater may deteriorate the quality of the recipient media to such an extent that its ecological balance may be disturbed. Several machines are operated within the mill house in a rice mill for milling dry paddy. The machines during their operation generate noise which sometimes exceeds the permissible limit. The controlled and systematic use of wastewater on land does not have any major impact on the land environment but uncontrolled discharge of wastewater on low lying areas may create environmental damage.

BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM:

Rice is the main crop of Chhattisgarh. Chhattisgarh is known as the “rice bowl of India”. Nearly about 68.14% of gross cultivated area is used for growing paddy & the production of paddy is 54.42 thousand MT. Dhamtari is one of the largest rice producing area in Chhattisgarh. About 77.2% of the GCA in Dhamtari is used for growing paddy. The district wise area & production figures in C.G. clearly show that although Dhamtari is a small district but its contribution in rice production is quite significant.

Dhamtari is also the biggest mandi of paddy in Chhattisgarh. Nearly 2132.928 in 2000-01 of paddy came to it for sell. Paddy from the neighboring districts too come to Dhamtari mandi for sell. Because of production of paddy in a large amount a number of rice mills are working in this area. There are 117 rice mills in the district in running condition as per the list provided by the District Industrial Centre, Dhamtari, Out of which 77 rice mills are producing Arwa (raw or white) rice and 40 mills are producing Usna (Parboiled) rice. Out of these 117 rice mills 48 are located in Dhamtari town within a range of 2 km. 77 rice mills are located in an aerial distance of 5 km. from Dhamtari town.

The population of Dhamtari town is 82111 according to 2001 census which are spread over in 33 municipal wards. There are about 11 villages surrounding Dhamtari town inhabited by 26090 people in a range of 5 kms. So, about 1-1.1 lakh people (as per 2001 census) of Dhamtari town and nearby villages are affected by the pollution caused by the discharge of the rice mills. Because of the demand of parboiled rice in the neighboring states like Orissa, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand & Andhra Pradesh a number of rice mills are producing parboiled rice which is the main cause of the environmental degradation in the area in the form of air pollution, water pollution and land pollution. So, the people living in the area are badly affected by the rice mills. They are facing a number of health problems like Asthma, Bronchitis, Cold & Cough, Corneal infection, Eye irritation, Allergy etc. Moreover, they are facing problems like dust, smoke, bad smell, maintenance of house, less value of property etc. In addition to that the uncontrolled discharge of waste water on low lying areas are creating unhygienic condition in the neighborhood leads to mosquito breeding and production of offensive odour. Prolonged dumping of wastewater on low lying areas may lead to contamination of ground water and may cause health problem too. Most of the rice mills are quite old and are located at the heart of the city. During last 25-30 years number of rice mills & population density increased together making the situation even worse.

Need for economic valuation of the environmental damage:

Environmental pollution is an economic externality caused by the activities related to production and consumption of goods and services in the economy. Alternatively, the waste disposal services offered by the environmental media; water, air and forests could be considered as the public goods for which markets are absent. In either interpretation the management of environmental resources could be seen as a case of market failure.²

To initiate any non-market policy instrument or market based policy instrument, it is quite necessary to asses the monetary cost of the environmental damages caused by any economic activity. There are various valuation methods in the literature of environmental economics. These can be classified broadly into categories given below:-³

1) Market Price Method

2) Hedonic Pricing Method

3) Travel Cost Method

4) Contingent Valuation Method

5) Discrete Choice Modeling Method

6) Benefit Transfer Method

Choice of the method:

The command & control method has totally failed in controlling the pollution caused by the rice mills in Dhamtari. As we are aware that the environmental services are not subject to market consideration, it can be valued only on a hypothetical market situation which is done in contingent valuation method.⁴ So, contingent valuation method has been used in this study to evaluate the monetary cost of the environmental damages caused by the rice mills in Dhamtari.

OBJECTIVES:

The objectives of the study are as follows:-

i) To find out the extent of the problem that the local residents are facing.

ii) To find out the monetary cost of the environmental damages caused by the rice mills of the region.

iii) To find out the compensation that should be given to the victims.

Sampling Frame:

There are currently 117 rice mills in running condition in Dhamtari district. Out of these 117 rice mills 77 are located within an aerial distance of 5 km. from Dhamtari town and 48 rice mills are within 2 km. range. So, the most affected areas are 15 wards out of total 33 wards and nearby villages like Mujgahan, Shankardah, Arjuni, Aghari-Nawangaon etc. according to 2001 census the total population of Dhamtari town is 82111 which is spread in 33 wards. Along with this there are 11 villages nearby Dhamtari town within a range of 5 km. Inhabited by 26090 people. So, in total about 108201 people are within a range of 5 km. from the affected area. But it is quite clear from the location map of rice mills that most of the rice mills are located in the northern and western part of Dhamtari town. So, the southern and south-eastern part of Dhamtari town is the least affected area. The main affected areas are industrial ward, Maitri Vihar, Gujarati colony, Ratnabandha, Makeshwar, Hatkeshwar and Bathena ward, Baniya para, Shankardah etc.

So, if we include only the most affected area we find that about 42553 people are badly affected by the pollution caused by the rice mills.

So, we have selected 13 wards of Dhamtari, Shankardah, Loharsi, Mujgahan, Arjuni, Nawagaon within our sample frame. To asses the problem in a range of 5-10 km., we have also taken sample from Amdi, Rudri and Gangrel.

Keeping in view the time frame and resource constraint we have surveyed 200 families across various wards of Dhamtari town as well as spread over villages near to Dhamtari town. The sample families were selected on the random basis. As we do not have information available about the income level of people residing here, we could not stratify the sampling units according to income. But at the time of survey we have tried to select families of various income groups into our survey.

Sources of data:

Although, the study is primarily based on primary data, yet various secondary data were also required. The data about the rice mills located in the region was collected from District Industry Centre, Dhamtari. Secondly, data about population of Dhamtari and nearby areas were collected from 2001 census report. Data about the agricultural and industrial development of Dhamtari district was collected from various Govt. publications like Economic Survey of Chhattisgarh etc. Some of the information about wards was collected from Dhamtari Municipal Corporation.

The primary data was collected through an extensive survey of the areas badly affected by pollution. A comprehensive questionnaire was prepared to collected information from the respondents. The survey was conducted on various dates in a period of six months from Dec. 06 to June 07 by principal investigator and co-investigator along with two numerators.

FINDINGS:

The first objective of the study was to find out the extent of the problem that the local residents of Dhamtari are facing.

1. It was found that there are 37 raw/white rice mills and 18 parboiled rice mills working in Dhamtari town. Our survey results show that all the 200 respondents responded positively to the environmental problem and they have stated that rice mills are the main cause of the local environmental problem. The rice mills in the region are located in the high population density areas causing problem to a number of people living nearby.

2. Out of 33 wards of Dhamtari 12 wards i.e. Bathena, Industrial, Nawagaon, Makeshwar, Mahant Ghasidas, Baniya Para, Motor Stand, Lal Bagicha, Dak Bunglow, Hatkeshwar, Sheetala Para & Sunder Ganj ward are the worst affected areas. Moreover, the villages in the surrounding areas like Shankardah, Haraftarri, Arjuni, Sambalpur, Kanidabri, Ratnabandha, Puri, Limtara are also badly affected by the pollution of rice mills.

3. The total population of the worst affected areas is 30967 of 12 wards (mentioned above) in Dhamtari town and 11586 of 08 surrounding villages. It means that about 8510 families (calculated on the basis of an average of 5 members in a family as found in the survey) are the main sufferers of the pollution problem generated by the local rice mills and are also the potential payers for the damage.

4. The 37 raw rice mills and 18 parboiled rice mills working in Dhamtari town have total production capacity of 162589 ton of raw rice and 154315 ton of parboiled rice. As per the study of CPCB, husk content in paddy is 22%, while ash content in husk is 20%. So, 1 ton of paddy will yield 220 kg. of husk while 220 kg. of husk will generate .04 tonne of ash. For parboiled rice production the figure is .07 ton of ash per ton of paddy processed. Like this, the wastewater generation per ton of paddy processed in parboiled rice mill is 1.10 cu.mtr. Now, the total capacity of the raw rice and parboiled rice is 162589 MT and 154315 MT respectively. It means that a total of 17305.61 ton of ash & 169746.5 cu. Mtr. of wastewater is generated by these rice mills. Because of the control mechanism installed by the rice mills only about 25-30% of ash released into the air but because no initiative have been taken for wastewater treatment, all the wastewater coming out from rice mills are drain out to open land & nearby tanks rivers, rivulets etc. These figures clearly indicate the intensity of the pollution problem the local residents are facing.

5. The respondents stated various problems like health related problem, house maintenance, outer wall maintenance, less value of property, bad smell and other problem because of the pollution generated by the rice mills. As per the rank given by the respondents the problem that was given maximum weightage by the respondents was health related problem. Bad smell problem got almost the same weightage. So, these two problems are the main problem that the local residents are facing due to environmental pollution cause by the local rice mills. The order of other problems as per the weightage is house maintenance, outer wall maintenance, less value of property and other problems.

6. Out of 200 families surveyed in this study (approx. 1000 persons) 360 persons i.e. 36% were reported suffering for at least 1 time in last 6 month from any of the pollution related health diseases like Asthama, skin allergy, corneal infection, cold and cough, bronchitis and snowfilia.

7. The average expenditure per month per family is found to be Rs. 518/- which comes to about 100/- per month per person. The expenditure includes diseases that are due to pollution only.

8. Children were found the main victims of the pollution problem particularly cold, cough and eye irritation. About 42% of total victims were children.

9. The economic burden due to pollution has aggravated due to non-acceptance of medical insurance policy by local people. Only 01 person out of 200 families surveyed, has covered himself by medical insurance.

10. Only about 25% respondents are willing to change their residence because of pollution problem & 75% don’t want to change their residence. The reason behind this is that most of the families who are living near the rice mills belongs to very low level of income. That is why they are not willing to change their residence despite the pollution problem.

11. In our survey we found that 80% of the respondents feel that because of pollution problem the property is not appreciating as much as it is appreciating in other areas. According to them on an average the valuation of the properties in the affected areas have devaluated by 20-40% as compare to other areas of the town.

12. In our survey, we found that 57% of total respondents have stated that on an average they have to clean their houses more than once daily to clean the dust and ash particles.

13. All the families living near the parboiled rice mills have complained about the bad odour of wastewater and also the problem of mosquitoes in the area. They are the people who are the worst affected by the pollution of the rice mills.

The second objective of the study was to find out the monetary cost of the environmental damages that the rice mills of the region are causing.

14. It was found that 49% of respondents are willing to pay Rs. 50-100 per month for three years (Three years time has been fixed on the basis of the information collected from the rice mills that the pollution preventive technology repays its cost in three years).

15. 28.5% of respondents are not willing to pay any amount. When it was asked to them; why they are not willing to pay any amount? Is it that they are not having any problem from the pollution? They are of the view that the polluters should pay for the pollution generated by them. So, it does not mean that they do not value the environmental damage. But quite a significant proportion (28.5%) is not willing to pay any amount.

16. The average willingness to pay for 200 families was found Rs. 96/- per month. As the total number of worst affected families (as per the point no. 3 mentioned above) is 8510, the total amount of willingness to pay is Rs. 816960 per month. It means that total amount of willingness to pay that would be available to the rice mills for the preventive measures against pollution in three years would be Rs. 29410560/-. So, it can be stated that the total amount that the affected families are willing to pay is Rs. 9803520/- p.a. This is the monetary valuation of the environmental damages caused by the rice mills. It is to be mentioned here that only the potential families have been taken into account that live in the areas. Although, they are also the sufferers of the problem but as they are not the main victims, they might not value the damage, hence may not willing to pay. But on the basis of our study we can easily state that the damage is even greater than what we have assessed (Rs. 9803520 per annum.).

17. A lot of studies have revealed that the families of higher income group are willing to pay more than the lower income group. But in our study the correlation coefficient between income and willingness to pay was found only +.19. Therefore, although there is a positive correlation between these two variables but the degree of correlation is very low. So, our study does not support the theory.

18. It is said that more educated people value the environment more than the less educated people. But in our study very low level of positive correlation was found between education and WTP.

19. In our study the most influential factor to WTP was found the distance of household from the nearest rice mill. It was found that the distance is negatively correlated with WTP. It means that people living nearby rice mills are willing to pay more while people living far from the rice mills are willing to pay less. So, distance of the household from a nearby rice mill is the most deciding factor for WTP in this study.

The third objective of the study was to find the compensation that should be given to the victims. Another way to assess the value of the environmental damage is willingness to accept. The respondents were given an option to state their preference of one time compensation that they would be willing to accept on account of pollution they are facing caused by the rice mills. The results are given below:

20. Quite a number of respondents i.e. 95 (47.5%) are not willing to accept any amount. On the basis of face to face interview it was observed that they are so fed up of this problem that they just want the rice mills to be shifted far from them.

21. Taking into accounting all the respondents (taking not willing to accept as zero) the average willingness to accept was found Rs. 4937.50 per family.

22. The total amount of willingness to accept is Rs. 42018125. This includes only the worst affected families (8510) that has been mentioned above in point no. 3. If the families which are not much affected by the pollution is to be included then the total willingness to accept amount is going to raise very sharply.

23. There is a medium level of positive correlation (.33) between income and willingness to accept. It means that income is certainly one of the major factors influencing the willingness to accept amount.

24. Education was not found an important factor to decide the WTA amount as the correlation coefficient is only .20 in this study.

25. In various studies, it was found that the WTA amount is quite high as compare to WTP amount, as normally people value the damage less when they have to pay for the damage. In this study too, the WTP amount was found Rs. 2.94 crore while the WTA amount was found Rs. 4.20 crore. So, the economic valuation seems to be quite realistic and if any policy measure is taken for pollution control in rice mills, people are ready to bear the cost of it.

Suggestions:

As we have already discussed that the problem of pollution has made the life miserable, of the people living in the nearby areas of rice mills in Dhamtari town. Protest and demonstrations have been carried out by the local people time to time, but nothing has happened. As we know that the owners are not ready to adopt the pollution free technologies because of cost considerations. Although, there are certain pollution control laws to check the emissions of rice mills yet, because of the failure of administrative system the environmental scene is getting worse everyday.

1. It was found that the local residents living in the nearby areas of rice mills are on an average willing to pay Rs. 96 per month to get rid of the pollution problem caused by the rice mills. So, a coordinating agency like pollution control board should be authorized to collect the amount in a range of Rs. 50-150 from the affected families who are willing to pay. Economically weaker sections should contribute at the lower end of the range and other should contribute at the upper end. This collected amount should be used for the reimbursement of the cost met by the rice mills on pollution control measures.

2. The amount should be collected on monthly basis for a period of three years. Within three years all the rice mills of Dhamtari town (37 raw rice mills and 18 parboiled rice mills) should be made equipped with least polluting technologies with the help of the so collected money.

3. Chhattisgarh pollution control board should be appointed nodal agency for implementation of the policy and continuous monitoring of it. Local people should also be included in the monitoring team.

4. Another way to provide relief to the affected people is by giving them compensation on account of pollution caused by the rice mills. As our study revealed that the affected people in the region are willing to accept Rs. 4.20 crore in total as lump sum compensation. The compensation amount should be recovered from the rice mills located in the affected areas. The parboiled rice mills should compensate more as they pollute the environment the most.

5. The average willingness to accept was found Rs. 4937/- per family. So, each of the affected families should be given Rs. 5000/- as lump sum compensation amount.

6. 47.5% respondents are not willing to accept any amount as compensation, because they don’t want to put any monetary value to clean environment. So, adaptation of preventive mechanism could be a better option instead of giving compensation to the victim.

7. If it is not possible to compel the rice mills to compensate the affected people, the other way to compensate people is by levying pollution tax on rice mills as per their emissions and compensating the affected people. The amount of tax could be determined as such that the total could be met within three years.

The above mentioned measures are time taking measures. So, for some immediate relief to the local people following steps should be taken:

8. It was found that the people are more affected by the pollution caused by the parboiled rice mills rather than the raw rice mills. The wastewater drained out from the parboiled rice mills is creating more problems for them. So, treatment of wastewater should be made compulsory for all the rice mills so that the BOD concentration level could be brought down.

9. The height of the chimneys should be increased up to the recommended level.

10. The ash and husk are kept in open spaces that are blown away by air. Moreover, many animals have been reported burnt by the ash kept in open spaces. So, keeping it in open spaces should not be allowed in any condition.

11. New rice mills that are being opened should not be allowed in the residential areas and environmental norms should be completely fulfilled.

If these measures are being taken care of the local people would definitely get relief from the pollution problem caused by the local rice mills.

LIMITATION OF THE STUDY:

As it has already been stated that this study is confined to only the economic valuation of the environmental damages caused by the rice mills with the help of contingent valuation method, obviously, the limitations of CV method also applies here. Willing to pay for environmental damages is often quite different from actually paying for the damage. Contingent valuation method gives us only a rough estimate of the monetary cost of the environmental damage. To get an accurate valuation of the environmental damage an alternative method of valuation could also be applied in which economic valuation can be done by aggregating the health expenditure, loss of property value, preventive and other expenditure, loss of working days etc. and then could be compared with the valuation by contingent valuation method. This would give a better valuation, quite close to the actual economic valuation of the environmental damages caused by the rice mills.

REFERENCES:

1. Jorgensen BS. Wilson MA and Heberlein TA. Fairness in the contingent valuation of environmental public goods: attitude toward paying for environmental improvements at two levels of scope. Ecological Economics. 36 (1); 2001:133-148.

2. Goldar BS & Mishra S.Valuation of environmental goods: Correcting for bias in contingent valuation studies based on willingness to accept. American Journal of Agricultural Economics. 83(1); 2001: 150-156.

3. Walker ME. et al. Disparate WTA-WTP disparities: The influence of human versus natural causes. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making. 12(3); 1999:219-232.

4. Kolstad CD. and Guzman RM. Information and the divergence between willingness to accept and willingness to pay. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management. 38(1); 1999:66-80.

Received on 28.06.2018 Modified on 21.07.2018

Res. J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 2018; 9(4): 989-994.

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5828.2018.00166.3