CHENNAI: “My sister is critical. I don’t have any update (on her),” worried Sushil, a 20-year-old migrant worker from Odisha, standing anxiously outside a hospital in Tiruvallur. He claimed that his 16-year-old sister, Deepanjali, whose name is recorded as Pinky in company records, was among the workers affected in the ammonia gas leak at St Peter & Paul Sea Foods Exports, a seafood processing unit in Kannigaipair, which processes a whopping 50 tonnes of seafood a day.
For Sushil, Sunday had begun like any other day. “I had my breakfast in the canteen and was returning to my room outside the factory premises when we noticed the gas leak,” he told TNIE, while standing helplessly at a temporary camp organised by the district administration about 7 km from the factory.
“We could smell the gas. All the girls were bleeding and vomiting,” he recalled. Unlike the women workers, many male workers escaped the worst of the disaster as their accommodation was located outside the factory premises. But they too experienced respiratory issues as the pungent smell spread through the area.
According to workers and residents, the ammonia pipeline ran close to the girls’ hostel located inside the factory premises. Many workers alleged they were caught completely off guard when ammonia began leaking. Sahil Ella, coordinator of the Integrated Rural Community Development Society, which works on migrant welfare, said the emergency alarm allegedly failed.
“The girls were inhaling toxic ammonia gas without understanding how dangerous it was. There was no immediate evacuation. Several crucial minutes of the golden hour were lost even though Vels Hospital is barely 1 km away,” he said.
Meanwhile, journalists covering the leak faced restrictions at multiple locations. Access was repeatedly curtailed by authorities and police, making it difficult to independently assess conditions inside hospitals and the factory premises.
The scale of the medical emergency became evident at nearby hospitals. At Vels Medical College Hospital, a staff member recalled the frantic hours after the leak. “From 10.30 am till 1 pm, patients kept pouring in; some were vomiting blood. A few of them had to be diverted to another hospital because of the numbers,” she said.
When TNIE visited the hospital, 29 workers were undergoing treatment. In one ward lay a 17-year-old girl who could barely speak between bouts of coughing and vomiting. Elsewhere, at Tiruvallur GH mortuary, the bodies of four women lay awaiting autopsy. There were no grieving parents beside them; no siblings, no relatives.
A 108 ambulance driver who transported the victims summed up the tragedy in one line. “All of them are young women. There is no one here, none to grieve for them.”
Former area councillor D Kumar questioned how a workers’ hostel had been allowed near an ammonia handling facility. “There have been repeated complaints to the TNPCB regarding air pollution from the factory. Kannigaipair, with a population of 5,000, is directly opposite the unit and around 14 villages nearby. An educational institution with nearly 2,000 students also functions in the vicinity,” he said.
Deputy tahsildar Gyanasundari said 152 workers, including 59 women, were accommodated at the camp, with medical teams stationed there. As this reporter interacted with workers, police brought the news of another death of a young woman. A relative was quickly escorted for identification.
Officials attempting to compile details of the affected workers told TNIE that many did not have their Aadhaar cards with them. “Some girls said their Aadhaar cards were at the hostel, while others said the documents were with labour contractors. It was difficult for us to verify if they were minors or adults. Almost all of them claimed to be aged above 20 years,” an official said. As per TNIE inquiries and interaction with workers, at least two were confirmed minors.
Strengthen TNPCB to prevent industrial tragedies, says VCK
Chennai: VCK treasurer SS Balaji has urged the state government to immediately expand and strengthen the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), stating the recurring pattern of industrial accidents reflects gaps in monitoring and enforcement.
In a statement offering condolences to the families of the deceased, Balaji said the extent of government’s duty to monitor and regulate erring establishments deserved equal scrutiny as much as that of holding the establishment accountable for the toxic gas leaks and safety lapses.
He questioned the government on what mechanism it had for continuous monitoring of such establishments, what procedures were in place for safety audits and whether the TNPCB was equipped to ensure units operated safely without harming the environment.
Stating that the board had a sanctioned strength of around 1,100, he said, “The small system was tasked with overseeing more than 1,000 large industries and over 5,000 medium and 35,000 small industries besides shops, malls, eateries, among others.”