At the end of 2023, as most people were taking stock and looking forward to new beginnings, the people of Ennore found themselves knee-deep in the sludge of very old problems. The flooding caused by Cyclone Michaung also caused an oil spill in the Ennore-Manali region of Chennai, which is, paradoxically, ecologically sensitive and home to the highest number of red-category industries in Tamil Nadu at the same time.
Ennore residents have long lived with a variety of illnesses linked to pollution, from skin allergies to breathing difficulties and worse. The region’s fishing community has had to fight for its livelihood which is encroached upon by industry. Yet, too often, the people of Ennore have been left to fight for the state’s attention in the face of environmental and health disasters.
The oil spill is a case in point, with residents and fishers raising the first alarm. Emergency recovery was completed by December 20, with 105.82 kilolitres of oily water and 393.5 tonnes of sludge removed, and a compensation package announced by the state. However, the long-term effects on the Ennore creek, mangroves, birds and fish and the livelihood of fishers have not yet been reckoned with.
Worse, before the community could recover, an ammonia gas leak from a fertiliser company in the region put close to 60 people in the hospital with breathing difficulties. Again, it was the community that raised the alarm and sought help. Since then, the residents have formed an association, put together an expert panel and called for their public hearing while continuing a protest demanding the company be closed.
The recommendations that followed the hearing were entirely reasonable given the ecological importance of the creek. They include notifying the creek as a special wetland, thereby implementing a 2022 National Green Tribunal order, and conducting a health survey in the region. They have also demanded that environmental laws be strictly implemented. This is the bare minimum that any people can expect of their government.
Yet, Ennore has shown for too long how, in the name of development, the well-being of people and the future of our planet have been trampled upon. In an age when we are reaping almost daily the harms we sowed on the earth, it is time governments got their priorities in order and cracked the whip on those putting people and planet in peril.
