An acid godown in Akila Nagar in West Kondaiyampettai in Tiruvanaikovil has been posing a health hazard to the residents, due to the evaporation of fumes from the acid containers. A cross section of residents of the area, in a petition to the district administration on Monday, pointed out that three types of concentrated acids – hydrochloric acid, sulphuric acid and nitric acid, are being stocked at the godown for onward distribution to retail outlets.
“The hazard has been a problem for the past several years but we ignored it in the initial years as only materials such as bi-cycles, iron grills were corroded; but in course of time, the problem got aggravated injuring our health,” says M. Subramanian, a retired college principal, one of the residents.
They complained that the spillage of acid while being transferred from trucks to drums resulted in evaporation of the liquid.
The water table has also been affected in a few houses due to the spillage, they complained. They have sought immediate intervention by the authorities to shift the godown to an industrial zone.
