Meta Strips

Meta-Strips was established to import and process scrap from Europe to send valuable metals back and dispose the waste in Goa and got clearance in a record six days. While an Environmental Impact Assessment was conducted, the potential hazards of the industry that included unacceptable levels of toxic and carcinogenic metal fumes and groundwater pollution were not made public. Residents from surrounding villages organized a campaign with road blockades and sit-ins that met police repression resulting in serious injuries and the death of a policeman. Meta-Strips retaliated by booking cases against activists in different states. With intense agitation on the streets, and the company’s electricity and water supply cut, the High Court refused to entertain the company’s applications for continued electricity and water supply. The government finally ordered the plant shut and constituted an expert committee that recommended costly investment in pollution control. The plant operates today, but its production is drastically reduced and it has had to invest heavily in pollution control technology.