In the worst tannery disaster in Tamil Nadu, 10 workers were drowned in toxic sludge in the early hours of Saturday at a tannery unit in the Small Industries Development Corporation (SIDCO) Industrial Estate in Ranipet.
Breach in wall
The flood, caused by a breach in the concrete wall of the sludge storage tank of the adjacent Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP), caught the workers who were asleep, unawares.
Nine of the dead were from Paschim Medinipur district, police said. They were identified as Abeeb Khan and his two sons Ali Akbar and Ali Ankar of Vidyapur Saltawani; Shajahan and Kutub Khan (brothers); Akram, Eshyam, Pyar and Habeeb, all from Balrampur. G. Sampath of Melvallam, the watchman at the unit, was also killed.
Two other employees, K. Ravi (50), a supervisor and G. Aminul Ali Khan (21) of Balrampur were rescued by fellow workers.
The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) has ordered the closure of the CETP, run by the Ranipet SIDCO Finished Leather Effluent Treatment Company Limited, as well as 79 member-units linked to it, for not following safety norms.
Case registered
P.K. Senthil Kumari, Superintendent of Police, Vellore district told The Hindu that a case has been registered against the company under sections 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter) and 304 (ii) (causing death by negligence) of the IPC.
The CETP was established in 1995 with a designed capacity of 2,500 cubic metres per a day to treat effluents discharged from 87 member tanneries. Currently 79 tanneries are linked to it., following the closure of the remaining for various reasons.