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.
