Fishermen associations have urged Chief Minister M.K. Stalin not to create another Bhopal-like disaster at Ennore in north Chennai. They want the production of fertilizer using ammonia at the private industrial unit at Periyakuppam to be stopped permanently.
“They cannot continue to play with the lives of people. We don’t know how the company got permission to operate at a location that is thickly populated and has hundreds of other industrial units nearby. If the leak had gone unnoticed, thousands of people would have died in their sleep that night,” said K. Bharathi, a fisherman community leader.
Around 15 association leaders met recently and resolved to continue their fight against the unit. Residents of 33 fishing villages in Chennai and Tiruvallur are taking part in an indefinite protest demanding that the company be shut down permanently.
Nanjil Ravi, another leader of the fisherman community, said even small companies that use ammonia were more careful with their storage. “We did not see the company helping residents in any way on the night of December 28, 2023, when the leak happened. If the quantum of gas that leaked had been more it would have definitely affected the marine environment as well. The sea has been advancing, and right now, the company is just 15 m away from the shoreline. It is high time that it is shifted from the location,” he said.
