As residents of Ennore in north Chennai drew the curtains on December 26, they had no clue to the impending period of panic that was to hit them soon, mere weeks after they grappled with the effects of an oil spill. At Periyakuppam, when Doulath Begum, 27, went to the bathroom some time after 11 p.m., she sensed a strange pungent odour. Her husband, K. Balachandar, 34, said it could be the mosquito repellent they had lit up. As she insisted that the odour was coming in through the ventilator, he opened their front door ajar to a strong gush of pungent ammonia, a smell they were far too familiar with.
At the same time, one of the workers leaving the nearby factories — the workers being the first to breathe in ammonia and quickly alert locals — began banging on Mr. Balachandar’s door, yelling about a ‘tank burst’. So, he immediately tied a damp cloth around his nose and rushed out with his wife and child. They came onto the streets to find chaos.
