‘Forced housewives’: Ennore women bear the brunt of decades of pollution
Speaking at the release of the Ennore Report Card, Subhashini from Kattukuppam said poor air quality has trampled their lives at every leve
CHENNAI: Women in Ennore say they were living through the harshest fallout of unchecked industrialisation and government neglect. Losing their traditional livelihoods, forced to travel long hours into the city for survival while battling worsening health and rising expenses. Many say that decades of pollution have turned them from earners into “forced housewives.”
Speaking at the release of the Ennore Report Card, Subhashini from Kattukuppam said poor air quality has trampled their lives at every level.
“We breathe ammonia, sulphur and what not? Almost every one of us has a health problem, and people know how much a single hospital visit costs,” she lamented. “The deterioration has driven men into alcoholism and addiction, leaving women to bear the burden. The government has poisoned the air, harmed our health and robbed us of livelihoods, leading to severe alcoholism and drug addiction. Do you know how many young widows live among us?”
The Save Ennore Creek Campaign’s final report backs these accounts, noting that women have suffered a “complete economic dislocation” as pollution, encroachments and industrial waste have wiped out local fish stocks. Many fisherwomen who once supplied markets across Chennai now work as domestic help, construction labourers or cleaners in the city.
Government skill-development schemes, including those under the Vada Chennai Valarchi Thittam, have reportedly failed to deliver jobs. Training sessions for tailoring, driving or food processing have been sporadic, poorly advertised and rarely linked to steady employment, it notes.
Prof Kalpana Karunakaran, Development Studies, IIT Madras, who has worked with women in the Ennore region, said the lack of nearby jobs and poor transport have made life unrelenting. “There are not many jobs around Ennore, and where they live, the pay is poor. Women travel to central and south Chennai for housekeeping work, spending hours on the road because of limited bus services. Almost 60% of their income goes to health expenses. It’s become so normalised there,” she said.
Women’s groups have demanded a 24-hour public health centre with respiratory care, inclusion in unorganised worker welfare boards and guaranteed local jobs in industries that operate in Ennore.