Ameer Shahul

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Ameer Shahul
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NationalityIndian
Alma materCochin University of Science and Technology
OccupationAuthor

Ameer Shahul is an Indian author who is best known for his work against Unilever in Kodaikanal mercury poisoning. His first non-fiction book titled Heavy Metal: How a Global Corporation Poisoned Kodaikanal was published by Pan Macmillan in 2023 [1]. He has been involved with green movements in India since 2002 ranging from ship-breaking to industrial pollution and campaigns against pesticides [2].

Early Life

Shahul was born in Pangode in Thiruvananthapuram, where one of India’s fierce freedom struggles was fought against the British Raj known as Kallara-Pangode Struggle. He obtained his post-graduation in Marine Biology from Cochin University of Science and Technology and dropped out of Masters in Communications and Journalism from the University of Kerala. Shahul started as a science correspondent with the Press Trust of India (PTI) in Bangalore in the nineties reporting on Indian space and defence programmes and later reporting on the emergence of Information Technology in India. He later shifted to PTI’s headquarters in New Delhi to track developments in Telecommunications in India which had just opened up with the government allowing Mobile telephony for private and international players. He spent brief stints with The Financial Express (India) and AFX, the business section of French news agency, AFP. He also led a team of journalists to transfer and stabilise global operations of Editorial Reference Unit of Thomson Reuters from the United Kingdom and Australia to India when the company shifted part of its operations from other global destinations to Bangalore.[3]

Kodaikanal mercury poisoning

Shahul took a break from his journalistic career to join Greenpeace in 2003 to work on a campaign against mercury pollution by Unilever in Kodaikanal, an environmental catastrophe committed by the FMCG major in the hill station of Tamil Nadu which had gained global attention over a period of time [4]. He led the public affairs groups and ex-workers to force the company collect 290 tonnes of mercury waste dumped in and around the forest and the factory site and send back to the United States for permanent retirement in 2003 [5][6]. This action of sending waste from a developing country to a developed country was widely hailed by the media as ‘reverse dumping'.[7] Shahul along with campaigners like Navroz Mody led environmental and local community groups in lobbying for remediation of the site[8] , and initiated an investigation by the Department of Atomic Energy of Government of India, which found that the mercury levels in the atmosphere of Kodaikanal was up to 2640 times more than what is found in normal conditions[9][10][11] .

With demands for remediation of the factory site and recompense ex-workers, Shahul led a team of activists and volunteers to spook the annual general body meeting of Hindustan Unilever in Mumbai in 2004[12]. Consequent to these pressures and the clearances by courts, the company began working with the regulatory body Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) to remediate the soil, de-contaminate and scrap the thermometer-making equipment at the Kodaikanal site.[13]

Other campaigns

During his stint in Greenpeace, he had also campaigned against the practices of ship breaking in Indian shores for hazardous waste disposal [14] [15], and against ground water exploitation and waste dumping by companies like Coca-Cola [16] [17]. He also brought to notice the worst incident of a a state owned company continue to manufacturing the globally banned DDT [18] .

Public Policy Leader

Shahul led the Government and Regulatory affairs in the region for IBM[19] [20] and also headed the External Affairs and Communications function for Nissan Motors in India and Renault Nissan Automotive India,[21] driving advocacy efforts for the companies in the region. He also worked with other global companies in retail and healthcare, leading efforts in global trade and intellectual property rights.

Author

In 2023, Pan Macmillan published his first book titled, Heavy Metal: How a Global Corporation Poisoned Kodaikanal.[22] Excerpts from the book have been published by media channels such as Deccan Herald, Down to Earth (magazine) [23], The News Minute [24], Scroll.in[25], ThePrint [26], MoneyControl [27] and Signal [28]. The book received rave reviews and ratings from environmentalists, ecologists, climate change activists and general readers alike. In Heavy Metal: How a Global Corporation Poisoned Kodaikanal, he describes the incident of mercury pollution in the hill station as the worst environmental crimes perpetrated by a global corporation in the region in recent times akin to the Bhopal disaster [29]. The book makes an effort to use the Kodaikanal incident to educate the public about the dangers of environmental crime for profits, besides chronicling it as a chapter of Indian environmental history.

Indian parliamentarian and author Shashi Tharoor and renowned environmentalist Vandana Shiva have endorsed it[30], so is Erik Solheim, former executive director of United Nations Environment Programme and former environment minister of Norway [31]. Deccan Herald described the book as 'a blunt and bold account of a tragedy'[32], while Malayala Manorama termed it as the gripping take on an industrial tragedy, and of green resistance. [33]

His second book, tentatively tiled, Syringe: the Great Indian Journey of Vaccines has also been contracted by Pan Macmillan [34].

He has also written about the resistance of local communities against uranium mining in India[35], extensive blogs on emerging technologies through IBM Blogs [36], Medium [37] and other digital platforms [38]

References

  1. ↑ "'Heavy Metal': Book on Kodaikanal mercury poisoning catastrophe to release on February 10". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  2. ↑ ameershahul.com (March 12, 2019). "My Two Cents to Plant Earth". Ameer Shahul Personal Website. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  3. ↑ "Reuters to shift jobs to India". www.rediff.com. 2004-02-13. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
  4. ↑ Shahul, Ameer (2023). Heavy Metal: How a Global Corporation Poisoned Kodaikanal. New Delhi: Pan Macmillan India. p. 135-140. ISBN 9789390742028.
  5. ↑ Saritha Rai (May 7, 2003). "Hazardous Waste Is Shipped From India to U.S. Recycling Plant". The New York Times. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  6. ↑ Saritha Rai (May 8, 2003). "Activists hail 'reverse dumping' as India sends waste to U.S." International Herald Tribune. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014 – via High Beam Research.
  7. ↑ "India sends hazardous waste back to US". Times of India. Apr 16, 2003. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  8. ↑ Fernando, A.C. (2010). Business Ethics And Corporate Governance. New Delhi: Pearson Education India. p. 9.14. ISBN 9788131734629.
  9. ↑ D. Karunasagar; M.V. Balarama Krishna; Y. Anjaneyulu; J. Arunachalam (September 2006). "Studies of mercury pollution in a lake due to a thermometer factory situated in Kodaikkanal" (PDF). Environmental Pollution. 143 (1): 153–158. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2005.10.032. PMID 16412540. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  10. ↑ "Closed Unilver factory source of Mercury Pollution". Deccan Herald. January 17, 2004. Archived from the original on 2014-02-22.
  11. ↑ "Hindustan Lever Limited Found Guilty again". Greenpeace. February 4, 2004. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  12. ↑ "Greenpeace spooks HLL AGM; Demand Public Apology for Kodaikanal Mercury disaster". Greenpeace. August 4, 2004. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  13. ↑ The Hindu (March 12, 2019). "HUL to begin soil remediation at site of thermometer factory". The Hindu. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  14. ↑ TNN, Times of India (2003-11-24). "Asbestos to be cleaned up before UK ship is broken". Times of India. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
  15. ↑ "Ban Kannur ship-breaking yard: Greenpeace". www.rediff.com. 2003-11-24. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
  16. ↑ Venugopal, P (Aug 7, 2003). "Tests Confirm Toxicity In Sludge From Coke Plant". The Hindu. Kochi.
  17. ↑ "Red wrath for Coke in green Kerala". Domain.b. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  18. ↑ Iype, George (Oct 10, 2003). "Eloor is one of the world's most toxic spots". Rediff.com. Kochi.
  19. ↑ "NASSCOM Leadership Forum 2017". Sched. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  20. ↑ "IIT Trichy". Twitter. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  21. ↑ "Marikar Nissan inaugurated". Kochi: The New Indian Express. December 29, 2011.
  22. ↑ "Heavy Metal by Ameer Shahul". New Delhi: Pan Macmillan India. February 10, 2023.
  23. ↑ To Earth, Down (2003-03-07). "Book excerpt: The poisoning of Kodai". The News Minute. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
  24. ↑ News Minute, The (2003-11-24). "Heavy Metal: The tale of a global corporation's betrayal that left Kodaikanal ailing". The News Minute. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
  25. ↑ In, Scroll (Feb 11, 2023). "A new book examines Hindustan Unilever's role in India's biggest mercury poisoning catastrophe". Retrieved 2023-03-12.
  26. ↑ Print, The (February 10, 2023). "Kodaikanal's radioactive seafood diet, how mercury was added to the menu". Retrieved 2023-03-12.
  27. ↑ Control, Money (2023-03-10). "Book excerpt: Unilever's Project Millennium streamlined India operations, but also helped HUL distance itself from a big mistake". MoneyControl. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
  28. ↑ Signal, The (2023-03-10). "Mercury Fevere". Signal. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
  29. ↑ Shahul, Ameer (10 February 2023). Heavy Metal, Ameer Shahul. ISBN 9789390742028. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  30. ↑ "Endorsement of Heavy Metal by Shashi Tharoor". Twitter. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
  31. ↑ "Endorsement of Heavy Metal by Erik Solheim]". Twitter. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
  32. ↑ Shahul, Ameer. "With Lichen and Moss as Allies". Deccanherald.com. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
  33. ↑ "Heavy Metal: A gripping take on an industrial tragedy, and of green resistance". Malayala Manorama. February 23, 2023. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
  34. ↑ "Deal News, Anish Chandy, Literary Agent, Labyrinth Literary Agency, LinkedIn›". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
  35. ↑ "INDIA: Villagers reject uranium mine". www.greenleft.org.au. 2003-09-10. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
  36. ↑ "Ameer Shahul › IBM Digital Transformation Blog". IBM. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
  37. ↑ "Ameer Shahul › Medium Blog". Medium. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
  38. ↑ "Ameer Shahul › Muckrack Author Page". Muckrack. Retrieved 2023-03-10.

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