More than 20,000 people residing on the banks of the Buckingham Canal in North Chennai’s Ennore have been severely affected by the massive oil spill from the Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd refinery. Now, they prepare to face far-reaching consequences to their health as well as ecosystems, on which they depend on for a livelihood.
Heavy deposits of oil had seeped out of CPCL premises on December 4 – the day Cyclone Michaung caused intense rains and flooding in Chennai – before entering the Buckingham Canal that flows from south to north across the city. The oil spread into the Ennore Creek, which is an arm of the Kosasthalaiyar River, finally entering the Bay of Bengal.
