Following the leak from the plant, at about 11:45 pm on 26 December, an odour that caused discomfort spread across the neighbourhood.
Published Dec 27, 2023 | 11:48 AM ⚊ Updated Dec 28, 2023 | 12:47 PM
Gas Leak in Ennore, North Chennai. (Screengrab)
With no respite to the Ennore area in sight, an ammonia gas leak at a fertiliser manufacturing unit in Ennore, North Chennai, resulted in several people being hospitalised, official sources said on Wednesday, 27 December.
Following the leak from the plant, at about 11:45 pm on 26 December, an odour that caused discomfort spread across the neighbourhood.
Soon, over 25 people in surrounding residential neighbourhoods, such as Periyakuppam, experienced uneasiness, nausea, and faintness, and they were taken to nearby hospitals, sources added.
As soon as word spread about the gas leak, people rushed out of their homes in panic and gathered out on the roads and sought help. At the same time, sources said that officials of the fertiliser unit “took steps to rectify the technical issue”.
Police personnel pacified people by telling them that experts were addressing the issue and requested them to go back into their houses as “there is no problem”.
VIDEO | Several hospitalised following Ammonia gas leak at a private chemical factory in Ennore, Tamil Nadu. More details are awaited. pic.twitter.com/zYbPUzXJVf
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 27, 2023
Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian visited the patients admitted in Stanley hospital.
எண்ணூர் ரசாயன தொழிற்சாலையில் அமோனியம் வாயு கசிவால் பாதிக்கப்பட்டு ஸ்டேன்லி மருத்துவமனையில் அனுமதிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளவர்களிடத்தில் நலம் விசாரிக்கப்பட்டது. #Masubramanian #TNHealthminister #DMK4TN pic.twitter.com/s34BBWPGe9
— Subramanian.Ma (@Subramanian_ma) December 27, 2023
The gas leak comes weeks after the oil spill that happened in Ennore Creek.
On 4 December, an oil spill from the Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL), contaminated the Kosasthalaiyar river via the Buckingham Canal.
As a result of the oil slick and seepage, boats and nets in fishing villages in north Chennai were affected.
The oil spill reached the Bay of Bengal via Ennore Creek, leaving the shores and the water unfit for fishing.
If the layer of oil on the water prevents oxygen permeation, there would be a massive loss of marine life.
The recovery work took weeks and on 20 December, the government finally announced that the recovery work had been completed.
The environmental impact of the oil spill is so severe that the fishermen predict depletion of catch for the next six months. While small quantities of oil spillage has always been noticed at these fishing hamlets every monsoon, this is the second severe incident of oil spill after the one in 2017.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, on Saturday, 23 December ordered cash assistance ranging between ₹7,500 and ₹12,500 to 9,001 families affected by the oil spill in North Chennai areas.
(With PTI inputs)
