More than 300 residents from Ennore came together on Monday to sign a banner demanding the closure of Coromandel International Limited (CIL), a fertilizer unit in Ennore.
To mark the 125th day of their protest against the unit following an ammonia gas leak from the unit in the late hours of December 26, 2023, the villagers launched a signature campaign addressed to Chief Minister M.K. Stalin demanding the permanent shut down of the unit.
According to a technical committee constituted to probe the ammonia leak, 67.638 tonnes of the gas leaked from CIL’s undersea pipeline. Over the last four months, the residents have expressed apprehensions about living amid a fertilizer unit with a double insulated ammonium storage tank that has the capacity to store 12,500 tonnes of ammonia. The regular release of noxious fumes over the past three decades has already caused several health problems, they alleged.
Highlighting that a potential leak of higher intensity will have fatal effects on the surrounding villages, the residents have been protesting for the plant’s permanent closure.
Vishanth, a coordinator of the Ennore Makkal Paathukaapu Kuzhu, said the signatures of residents in all 33 villages in the locality would be collected and the copies of the representations would be sent to the offices of the Chief Minister, the Governor, and the Prime Minister.
