Three-year-old Kirtisha, cupping her hands and covering her nose, describes how she was asked to protect herself from the Ammonia gas leak on that terrible night in Ennore. She along with her grandmother Sarasu were admitted to the hospital. The child had to be administered oxygen for regularising her breathing.
28-year-old Monisha Padmanaban, her husband and two children were fast asleep when a friend rang them up. The message was short but clear. “Get out of your home, there is a gas leak. Inform others as well,” recounted Monisha about the night of 26 December. 58-year-old Sarasu had woken up to use the restroom when she heard a woman carrying her child, running and screaming “All of you evacuate.”
Sarasu woke her family of six and started running out. “My eyes were burning, I could not breathe, and my throat became dry. I could not speak, my voice even now is not proper. Then I fainted, I don’t even know who carried me and admitted me to the hospital,” she said.
On 26 December, around 11:45pm, ammonia gas leaked from Coromandel International Limited, a fertiliser manufacturing facility in Ennore, a region in the Northern part of Chennai. The neighbourhood of about 4,000 people close to the plant were immediately affected. They ran out into the night rubbing their eyes and breathlessly coughing. The spectre brought back images of the other midnight tragedy. The deadly Union Carbide gas leak in Bhopal nearly four decades ago. But in Tamil Nadu, it had another more recent memory recall–of the tsunami two decades ago. Massive industrialisation in the area that include power plants and petrochemical units, coupled with unchecked unorganised settlements, has left the region and its people vulnerable. Ennore is on edge. Its settlers may have had a close shave with industrial disasters this time, but the gas leak and an oil spill last month are alarm bells that should force India’s industrial planners to re-look at the word ‘sustainable’ even as dead fish washes up on shore of the Chennai neighbourhood.
“When the news about the gas leak came, all of us just dropped everything and ran with our children as is. Pregnant women, elderly, and children all of us started running, after a point there was a government bus which took us to the local MLA’s place,” said another survivor R Vellayi. Soon after her exposure to the Ammonia gas, she started throwing up. “The exposure to the gas makes our breathing so laboured mimicking the sound of a hen,” she said.
Soon after being discharged from the hospital, Sarasu and Vellayi have joined the residents of the 32 villages from Ennore, including the most affected villages of Periyakuppam, Chinnakuppam, Eranavur and Nettukuppam, in the protest outside the Coromandel International.
When the news about the gas leak came, all of us just dropped everything and ran with our children as is. Pregnant women, elderly, and children all of us started running, after a point there was a government bus which took us to the local MLA’s place–R Vellayi, one of the survivours
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What’s ailing Ennore
The Ennore Pulicat creek in the Kosasthalaiyar river is a natural ecosystem which was spread over 10,000 acres, but has shrunk due to rampant encroachments, predominantly by industries.
The creek acts as an ecological unit that protects biodiversity, recharges groundwater, and stores rainwater. Despite the release of 45,000 cusecs of water from Poondi and Puzhal reservoirs, when cyclone Michaun hit the city, Ennore acted as the absorber of the excess flood water, say environmentalists. They also credit the Ennore creek for ensuring North Chennai from completely marooning during the Chennai floods.
But the creek that gave buffer protection to North Chennai faces serious threat, in turn risking livelihoods.
“The Ennore Creek is the breeding ground for fish, but the spill and the ammonia leak both have caused massive destruction to the fish. Ammonia mixed with hydrogen forms Ammonia hydroxide ion and it is a poisonous substance for fish. It increases the PH level of the fish and affects the fish and higher exposure leads to death of the fish. There is also a huge long-term impact in aquatic biodiversity,” said Prabakaran Veeraarasu, an environment engineer with Poovulagin Nanbargal, an environmental organisation.
The Ennore area and it’s ‘segragation’ has historical links. North Chennai, which was once called the “black town” during the British period, continues to face discrimination said Prabakaran. There are 36 large red category factories and the Ennore-Manali area has the highest number of fossil-fuel industries in south India. “Three big thermal power plants, three coal supplying ports, coal yards, oil refinery companies, petroleum companies and three fertiliser companies, why does Ennore region alone have so many industries?” asked Prabakaran.
ThePrint tried reaching out to D. Vasudevan, Joint Chief Environmental Engineer, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, for a response via calls but was unable to get a comment.
Additional Chief Secretary, Environment, climate change, Supriya Sahu said that the TNPCB has formed a seven member technical team. The technical committee is examining the issue of damage to the pipeline and the allegation by the villagers that the emergency alarm was not set off. It is expected to submit a report to the government shortly.
She noted that TNPCB has issued directions to suspend the operation of the fertiliser and storage facility on 27 December. “Based on the recommendations of the technical committee further continuance of operation of the industry will be collectively decided by the Directorate of Industrial, Safety and Health (DISH), Tamil Nadu Maritime Board, TNPCB and Directorate of Dock safety,” she added.
About the location of the industry she said that when the industry was established in 1963, there were no villages nearby. “However, now, Periyakuppam is located adjacent to the unit and Chinakuppam is located at about 750 m from the unit in the West southwest direction.”
She added that there is no specific NGT order regarding the ban on any RED category industries in the area and that industrial development is a prerogative of the government
“Any decision to ban new industries will have to be carefully decided by the government, keeping in mind the industrial and economic development of the State,” she said.
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The night of 26 December
Cousins R Jagathvi and R Jagadeesh, both three years of age, have been narrating their ordeal from that night. Animatedly, the two kids show how someone knocked at their house, they all had to run to a distance, and how their grandmother — Vellayi — started vomiting and later had to be admitted in the hospital.
The local police on patrol had also noticed the pungent smell, and were alerted by the local public too. P Vijayakumar, Joint commissioner, Law and Order, Avadi commissionerate, told ThePrint that “The Ennore inspector was on duty at the time of the incident, he informed me, and the Deputy Commissioners. So I asked him to go to the concerned company, meet the authorities and find out what is the issue, what is this gas and its nature.”
As soon as the police reached Coromandel, the duty in-charge at the factory informed the police that the gas was ammonia and that the factory had noticed a drop in the pressure indicating that there was a leak. “The concerned official had informed the police that the ammonia supply had been cut off when there was a drop in the pressure. Once this was informed the police’s chain of command was activated,” Vijayakumar noted.
All 61 patrol vehicles in the Avadi commissionerate, four strategic X-Ray teams (each team has 20 personnel and are used in emergency), and 10-12 ambulances were also immediately moved to the region. “The main aim of the police was to evacuate and move the people to safety if they were experiencing discomfort,” he added.
Many of the residents were taken in government buses to the Tiruvatriyor MLA (DMK) KP Shankar’s residence. Shankar got a panic call from the locals that the Ammonia tank had burst, and that the residents were on the roads running away from the factory fearing their life was in danger.
Close to 4,000 people from the different fishing hamlets in and around Coromandel were out on the road in distress panicking about their safety. Women and elderly were seen collapsing and being carried in autos, and ambulances to the hospitals.
Within 200 meters from the Ammonia storage tanks are the two fishing hamlets – Periyakuppam and Chinnakuppam. There are over 150 families here.
“There was no emergency alert or siren set off from the factory when the leak happened? Why were we not alerted?” asked protesting citizens outside Coromandel. With their homes stones thrown away from the factory’s main gate, many of the residents say the fumes from the unit has left the residents with health issues. “Almost every person in this region has a wheezing problem because of the poor air quality. The fumes from the factory in general has caused this issue,” said Monisha who had to undergo multiple check-ups for chest pain that was set off since the gas leak.
Coromandel International which manufactures 400,000 tonnes of Ammonium Phosphate Potash Sulphate annually uses ammonia as one of the raw materials. Ammonia which is imported from Iran and Saudi Arabia is received from the minor port in Ennore through ships.
The Ammonia is then transferred to the fertiliser industry through a 2.5 km pipeline laid underneath the sea. The Ammonia gas is cooled for 36 hours prior to the transfer in liquid form.
The pipeline is reported to have ruptured 500 meters from the shore inside the sea.
The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) during its inspection at 3:30 am on 27 December found that the level of ammonia in the air was 2,090 microgram (mm in cubic meter) as against the accepted levels of 400 microgram. In the sea, it was 49 milligrams per litre (mg/l) as against the standard of 5 mg/l. Due to the corrosive nature of Ammonia, those exposed continue to feel distressed – they are having difficulty speaking and breathing and their eyes still burn, sight has reduced and vision is blur. But the Ammonia levels in the air had dropped to 0, according to TNPCB report on 27 December.
Many of the residents were taken in government buses to the Tiruvatriyor MLA (DMK) KP Shankar’s residence. Shankar got a panic call from the locals that the Ammonia tank had burst, and that the residents were on the roads running away from the factory fearing their life was in danger. “I immediately arranged for a few government buses to be sent to the spot and help evacuate the people and bring them here,” said Shanker.
Soon after the leak, the AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami, calling the incident similar to the Bhopal gas leak 40 years back, alleged that the leak would not have occurred had the TNPCB done its duty and inspected all the factories in North Chennai post the oil leak. Meanwhile, K Annamalai, BJP state president, urged the Tamil Nadu government and TNPCB to take appropriate action and check if safety procedures have been adhered to by industries.
Shanker’s home, his party office and nearby temples turned out to be the safe haven for many of the residents of the affected region. “Most of the people had breathing difficulty and irritation in the eyes and chest when they came here. 35 people were taken to a private hospital and were kept on observation. Ten medical camps were held here and everyone was checked,” said Shanker who added that the people’s demand for a permanent closure of the plant has also been submitted by him to the government.
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Oil spilled homes
Around four kilometres from the Coromandel factory, in the Adi Dravidar Colony in Ernavoor, K Valli, is rebuilding her two-year-old house from scratch. On the wee hours of 5 December, oil had seeped into her house along with flood water. Though the water receded, the oil sludge had to be manually removed from her house.
It’s a lower middle-class neighbourhood, with residents mostly involved in daily wage work and fishing. The locality is dotted with houses as big as 600 to 700 square feet and they were flooded with oil-soaked water.
Valli, since the oil flooding, has coated her house with limestone twice, but the oil still surfaces.
“When excess water was released from the reservoir, the flooding happened. But it is not the water that damaged our home, it was the oil mix in it . All the home appliances, fridge, our bed everything was destroyed,” said Valli who said there was no help or SOP provided by government officials on how to clean their homes.
The oil sludge has left its signature over the locality. Patches of oily sludge and oil-soaked blackened roads and vegetation are a common sight in the region. The water levels with oil marks can be seen from the oil trace that is visible on the walls of all buildings here. The government marking which shows 1.2 meters (4 feet) indicates the height of the water-oil logging.
During the golden hour (first 48 hours) of the oil spill, the officials failed to contain it, said Prabhakaran, adding that though the state government had drafted a state oil spill disaster contingency plan in 2017 after the oil spill caused in the sea due to two cargo vessels collision, it is still awaiting clearance from the Coastguard.
The people are unaware of the substances/chemicals present in the oil that entered their homes. People lived in the houses with the sludge for close to five days before the oil cleaning work started by the government and CPCL. “The oil had cancer causing carcinogenic agents in it and a test had found that benzene (a blood cancer causing chemical), Toluene, Styrene chemicals were 50 times more than the permissible limit, which on long term exposure can cause cancer, liver and kidney issues,” said Prabhakaran
The people in the region have started having breathing issues, lung issues, skin rashes and fever among children. “There should have been proper medical screening conducted street by street, village by village but that has not happened and in this aspect the government has failed our people,” Prabhakaran added.
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Demand for closure
For the fishing villages in Ennore, the oil spill and the ammonia gas leak both have played a significant role in affecting their livelihood. R Ramesh, and his family have been sitting outside Coromandel demanding that the fertiliser factory that’s been functional since 1963 be permanently closed.
On 27 December, the TNPCB had issued a temporary closure notice to Coromandel stating that the unit can resume operation only after getting an NOC from Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health ensuring that all the pipelines inside the plant are intact.
Environmentalist Nityanand Jayaraman called the TNPCB’s move a lame duck action and alleged that instead of issuing a “show-cause notice threatening action, this is a polite request for some directions to be complied.”
The level of the Ammonia was tested by TNPCB around 3:30am on 27 December, but Jayaraman said that the 8 locations, which were chosen by the TNPCB were unrelated to the wind direction. Since the sample was taken three to four hours after the time of occurrence of the leak, the TNPCB should have considered the wind movement and should have collected sampled from the south west location from the point of leak as that was the wind direction.
Ramesh who lives meters away from the factory’s Ammonia storage tank said, “This is Chennai, Tamil Nadu’s capital, if the tank had leaked then close to 10 per cent of Chennai would have got affected, now since Ammonia was leaked in the water the intensity of the impact has reduced.”
The fertiliser factory, Prabhkaran noted, had also caused groundwater contamination by fluoride and people have been affected by dental and skeletal fluorosis.
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Impact on Ennore
Ennore’s fish and prawns used to be high on demand and were exported internationally. But in 2021, the once sought after prawns from the region started looking ash in colour due to the fly ash deposited from the Ennore Thermal power plant.
A Joint Experts Committee (JEC) set up by the National Green Tribunal (SZ) in 2022 said that Ennore wetlands had shrunk from 855.69 ha in 1996 to 277.92 ha in 2022. The built-up area in the region increased from 0 ha to 259.87 ha during the same period. The area under mangroves decreased 68.72 to 33.74 ha.
With regard to the health hazards, the JEC had found that Adults in Ennore were facing a high cancer and non-cancer risk due to cadmium and lead exposure. Worse, the threat of Cancer and non-cancer risk due to cadmium, lead and copper is much higher for children than for adults.
Industrial accidents have become a continuous saga in Ennore, said environmentalists and noted that the people in the region have been objecting to industries from the time industries were being set up.
“Over the last 50 years, accidents here have been mainly due to industrial negligence, and violation by industries. When the first thermal power plant opened in Ennore in 1971 people protested and demanded the right to clean air, water and livelihood and to date their protest continues. Each time there is a violation or when norms are broken by the industries the people in Ennore protest, but no action has been taken. These are all impacts of the negligence of both the government and the Industries there,” said Prabhakaran.
Major red flags that need to be addressed start with the question of how residential areas were permitted within the one kilometre radius of the red category industry? asked M Vetriselvan, an environmentalist with Poovulaga Nanbargal.
While zoning of areas were meant to be logical, put into place with the purpose of protection, Jayaraman said, “If you just look at zoning like a piece of paper work and change allotment of a zone to residential neighbourhood right next to a hazardous zone, it very clearly shows the concerned departments are not serious about the zoning.”
In 2020, the Save Ennore Creek campaign had in a report to Union Home Minister Amit Shah alleged that more than 660 acres of backwaters of the Kosasthalaiyar river had been encroached by public sector undertakings (PSUs) like Kamarajar Port, NTPC Tamil Nadu Energy Company Ltd (NTECL) Bharat Petroleum limited.
Though NGT had ordered the state government to declare the backwaters of the Kosasthalaiyar, Ennore creek, as a protected wetland in July 2022, the notification process is still underway at the government’s end.
In the JEC report of 2021, it was suggested that “Only Orange and Green category industries and Red category Industries, which are not emitting the Sulfur dioxide and Nitrogen dioxide emissions, shall be allowed in the area.” But environmentalists say this suggestion has not been taken seriously.
Prabhakaran pointed out saying that “a new Thermal power plant is coming up next month, North Chennai power station has proposed expansion, automobile industries are expanding, Adani Kattupalli port expansion proposal is underway, a paint and a plastic company are planned there. All this raises a question if we are not serious about Ennore people’s life?”
“If these plants have to come near the beach, then why not think about Besant Nagar or Mylapore? Why only Ennore? It is a discrimination and that is the reason for this. The British had separated the region of Chennai into white town and black town, and the partiality continues. We are not treating Ennore and the people there equally,” added Prabhakaran.
Outside the Coromandel factory, sitting under the shade of the makeshift pandal, Monisha sits with the other woman of her village. She tries to dispel the fear of her two daughters.
“When I was a child, I had witnessed a tsunami and that continues to be my worst nightmare, but today this man-made disaster of Ammonia gas leak has had the same impact of the tsunami on my children. I want them to live without fear, be able to breathe clean air, and drink clean water.”
The article has been updated with Additional Chief Secretary, environment, climate change, Supriya Sahu’s response.
(Edited by Anurag Chaubey)