there was a interesting little tit bit of a news regarding kanjikode industrial estate pollution. kanjikode is an industrial belt in palakad and has slammed by pollution. sorry slammed by 'development'.

the news report said that and i quote "The Kerala Government has decided to appoint a three-member committee to study the extent of pollution caused by the steel foundry units at the Kanjikode industrial estate in Palakkad."

so far so good. but when i went to the last line of the tit bit i was shocked because it read as and i quote "The committee will be headed by Dr M. P. Sukumaran Nair, Managing Director, Travancore Cochin Chemicals."

why on earth will you nominate a managing director of a chemical company to analyze pollution, its socio-environmental-economic impact on neighboring communities, and how pollution can be eliminated by sustainable way of developing industries in these area(where pollution mitigation probably calls for carrot and tough stick policy).

instead of appointing a chemical company head, what you have to do is to analyze in an honest manner via proven and honest environmentalists so that that person and his committee can see whether even to allow more polluting industries or not considering the huge slamming already taking place in kanjikode.

very funny is development. i am barely able to imagine a 2nd grade failed student taking over the finance ministry of india. the parallel may not be the same, but having a chemical company head to analyze pollution defeats the very foundation of pollution analysis itself.