Hindustan Unilever Limited to display Kodaikanal soil cleaning work every day

HUL manufactured mercury thermometers in its plant at Kodaikanal up to 2001. It was closed then as complaints of mercury contamination surfaced.

The organisation shutdown all its operations. The Madras High Court directed the company to remove the contaminated Mercury from the ground and also appointed a six-member local planning committee to oversee the cleaning up work.

The company began its work after obtaining permission from the Kodaikanal municipality. Sources from the company informed that contract workers had been hired for the clean-up and also public were not allowed during the operations fearing contamination.

Sources further said that before the clean-up, working conditions of the equipment would be determined using uncontaminated soil. Cleaningup of the contaminated soil would be taken up only after ascertaining the standard of the equipment.

HUL also wanted to maintain transparency of work.

Therefore, daily work would be updated on a board and public could learn about the progress. The soil remediation work would go on for 90 days, after which the testing would be carried out, informed the sources.

“If we obtain positive data, the remediation work would be carried out with the help of the government in a permanent manner,” said the source.

However, members of the Tamil Nadu Alliance Against Mercury (TNAAC) have announced to stage a protest outside HUL, on Thursday.

They said that a six-member local monitoring committee has been formed and the High Court has directed HUL to inform the committee of every move while cleaning the soil.

But, HUL began the cleaning process without informing the local monitoring committee and the district environment officials had colluded with the company in permitting them to start the cleaning work. Hence, they plan to stage a protest against HUL with the demand of including the members of local planning committee in the cleaning up process and to inform the committee of every step taken by the company.