Despite collector's plea, Ennore residents to continue protest
The Collector appraised the residents that she was yet to get a TNPCB report on the gas leak and said that report will be available in a couple of days.
Chennai Collector Rashmi Siddharth Zagade
CHENNAI: Despite Chennai Collector Rashmi Siddharth Zagade and elected representatives promising action against Coromandel International Limited, a fertilizer plant from where ammonia gas leaked a week ago, residents of Ennore refused to call off their protest. The residents are demanding permanent closure of the plant.
During a talk with the protestors, on Wednesday, the district collector along with North Chennai MP Kalanithi Veerasamay, Thiruvottiyur MLA KP Shankar, Joint Commissioner of Police (Avadi) P Vijayakumar and TNPCB (Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board) officials, assured that closure action will be take as per legal procedures to fulfil the demands.
She also requested the residents to call off the protest.
The Collector appraised the residents that she was yet to get a TNPCB report on the gas leak and said that report will be available in a couple of days.
Speaking among the protestors, Vijayakumar said that even though cases have been filed against some of the protestors, arrests were not made.
However, he warned that police will arrest the protestors if the number of protestors grow in order to "avoid law and order issues".
Tamil Selvan, member of Ennore Makkal Pathukappu Kuzhu (Ennore Residents' Protection Group), said that they will not call off the protest until the authorities give a timeline to close the plant.
"While the Collector, MP, MLA and others express support to our demands, they refuse to provide any time limit. They only say that the action will be taken soon. We will not go home until they give us a date.
Presently, residents of four out of 33 villages around the plant are protesting but residents from other villages will join the protest if necessary. We are avoiding overcrowding in the protest site for now, " Tamil Selvan added.
Meanwhile, VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan met the protestors on the day to express his support and said that the party will conduct a demonstration to support their cause.
It may be noted that the residents have been staging protests since December 27 after the ammonia leak that sent more than 50 persons to hospitals during the midnight hours of December 26.
Residents to survey health status:
On the other hand, Ennore Makkal Pathukappu Kuzhu has decided to conduct health surveys across Ennore to identify the number of persons affected with diseases like respiratory illness, cancer and others.
"We have been requesting the government to conduct a health survey in the locality. As the government is not heeding, we have formed a team to conduct the survey. We need correct data to move the government. The team will start the survey in a few days, " one of the protestors said.
During a public hearing organised by the Kuzhu, residents as well as former justice K Kannan demanded a health survey by the government.
Meanwhile, hearing a suo motu case pertaining to the gas leak, the southern bench of National Green Tribunal (NGT), on Tuesday, directed the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health (DISH) and TNPCB to file their reports on the ammonia leak.
Retired justice K Kannan and others, who chaired the public hearing recommended the government to take urgent and credible action on the NGT's order issued in 2022 that directed the State to notify the full extent of the Ennore backwaters as a special wetland and take measures to holistically rehabilitate and rejuvenate it.
