You can't help but feel the air change when you drive North from Chennai's scenic Marina Beach. The smog overwhelms you, and there's a heaviness to the environment. One look at the horizon tells you why — chimneys, massive cooling towers and grey power plants are almost ubiquitous here.
This is Ennore, and it's the boondocks of Chennai. The neighbourhood, known for its power plants, refineries, harbours and heavy industries is also where a majority of the city's ecological mishaps tend to happen — at least in the recent past.
The latest in this spate of accidents saw fertiliser major, Coromandel International report a gas-leak from one of its delivery pipelines. "Due to the abnormalities noticed in the delivery pipeline of liquid ammonia on December 26, the next shipment at our multi-buoy mooring system terminal is cancelled," said the company, in a letter to the Tamil Nadu Maritime Board, "It will be brought into operation after rectification of abnormalities to the satisfaction and certification of concerned authorities."
Trouble first began when villagers at the fishing village, Periyakuppam, near Ennore, began complaining of breathlessness and eye-irritation. The cause was later determined to be the gas-leak in question, even as many were rushed to nearby hospitals.
The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) said that nearly 60 individuals had complained of health concerns, 52 of whom were hospitalized at the state-run Stanley Medical College and five health camps.
In the late hours of December 27, a day after the gas leak was reported, a release issued by the TNPCB said the ammonia leak was "completely arrested" and that there was no need to panic. "At present, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board has confirmed that there is no further leakage from the pipeline," it said, adding: "The Tamil Nadu Government has instructed the unit (Coromandel International) to identify the exact location and the extent of pipeline damage, and rectify the damaged pipeline before commencing ammonia transfer."
The damage control notwithstanding, Wednesday's developments are emblematic of Ennore's precariousness as a human settlement. Only a fortnight ago, an oil slick from Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL) brought fishing to a grinding halt in as many as four fishing villages around the Ennore Creek. The Tamil Nadu government would later embark on a mammoth clean-up operation, mopping up 105.82 kilolitres of oil, and scavenging 393.5 tonnes of oil-laden sludge.
In an interview with CNBC-TV18 earlier in the month, Tamil Nadu's additional chief secretary in charge of environment, forests and climate change, Supriya Sahu, conceded that the long-term clean-up strategy would "take a bit of time". She said, "Our medium strategy involves making sure that oil-laden debris from the shores is immediately taken out so that it doesn't seep in, but the next (strategy) will take a bit of time because it involves biodiversity restoration."
Sahu was referring to the Mangrove forests along the Ennore Creek, and the nearby Olive Ridley turtle nesting grounds — both in the firing range of the oil slick. The very fact that the Environment Department was tasked with cleaning up the slick on a priority while at the same time prioritising battling the long-term impacts of the ecological mishap, is indicative of Ennore's strange status as that of a heavy industries basin within an ecologically sensitive wetland.
Today, the region is home to power plants, refineries and industries like the North Chennai Thermal Power Station, Kamaraj Port Limited, L&T Shipbuilding Yard, Chettinad International Coal Terminal, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, Ennore Thermal Power Plant, Coromandel International and Kothari Fertilizer, among others. Each of these industrial developments either border the Ennore Creek or are present within a five kilometre radius of the Kosasthalaiyar River.
Environmentalists have, for a long time, been flagging the presence of these industrial establishments. In 2021, after a debilitating two-day flood in Chennai, environmentalist and social activist Nityanand Jayaraman said construction of industrial plants on seasonal water bodies was an environmental disaster in the making.
“Tidal water bodies and seasonal water bodies appear to be dry and useless for several months in a year. Even in that time it is being used by invisible people like grazers and fishers — people who don’t matter to our economy because they fall outside of capitalism,” he said, referring to Ennore's power plants and refineries, adding: “These areas are then looked at as wastelands.”
When asked if there was enough question about the legality of approvals granted to power plants and industries in the area, and to then possibly clamp down on their presence, Sahu remained non-committal. "The government is quite seized of the matter," she said, "It is the duty of the government to take stock of the situation, but let's not generalise and make sweeping statements."
Ennore isn't new to ecological disasters. In 2017, an outbound LPG tanker, BW Maple collided with the MT Dawn Kanchipuram, which resulted in 196 tonnes of bunker fuel oil spilling into the sea. Subsequently, the Tamil Nadu coastline — 180 kilometres from Ennore to Puducherry — was severely impacted by the spill, resulting in dead fish and Olive Ridley turtles washing ashore on various beaches in Chennai. Both, the recent inland oil slick and the 2017 oil spill severely impacted the fishing community, in addition to causing health concerns like skin irritation, throat irritation and respiratory problems.
"The government must declare Ennore as a region severely impacted by ecological and industrial disasters," said Balu, a fisherman in the region. Hailing from a family of fisherfolk, Balu's life came to a standstill when his boats were hit by the oil slick. He said he is now forced to seek employment outside of fishing, thereby bidding farewell to a trade that has stayed in the family for generations.
Thus far, the Tamil Nadu Government has ordered cash compensation between ₹7,500 and ₹12,500 to 9,001 families of fisherfolk impacted by the oil spill. Owners of nearly 787 fishing boats impacted by the spill are also in line to receive compensation of ₹10,000 per boat.
However, one might argue that short monetary fixes won't compensate for what is bound to be a recurring problem — heavy industrial presence within one of the finest ecological balances in Chennai. For fisherfolk in the region, life goes on, even as they hope that they won't have to deal with an ecological disaster for the foreseeable future, at the very least.
(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)
First Published: Dec 27, 2023 8:37 PM IST
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