The southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), on Tuesday, May 21, ordered that the Murugappa Group’s Coromandel International Limited (CIL) in Chennai’s Ennore can resume operations. The CIL plant had been shut following an ammonia leak from its pipelines in December 2023. The NGT permitted its reopening on the condition that CIL adhere to the guidelines provided by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control board (TNPCB) and the Technical Committee that was constituted by the TNPCB. The bench also ordered that CIL should procure No Objection Certificates (NOC) from the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health (DISH), the Indian Register of Shipping (IRS), and the Tamil Nadu Maritime Board to resume ammonia pipeline operations.
The bench, chaired by Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana and Dr Satyagopal Korlapatidirected the TNPCB to closely monitor the activities of the CIL. An environmental compensation of Rs 5.92 crores was previously levied on the company by the TNPCB. Regarding the compensation, Justice Pushpa Sathayanarayana said, “Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board should utilise the environmental compensation of Rs.5.92 crore collected from the Coromandel International Limited for environmental mitigation in Ennore industrial area.”
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The Technical Committee chaired by TNPCB secretary R Kannan had, in February 2024, recommended that the company install an adequate number of ammonia sensors around the plant and near the pipeline to monitor both the concentration levels in the sea and in the air by the hour. The unit must also carry out on-site and off-site emergency preparedness studies, use automatic tripping systems for detecting a build-up in pressure, and install high volume sirens to alert the people living in the villages around the plant during accidents or abnormal operations, the committee report said.
The recommendations also emphasised on the need for the company to hold safety audits of the plant through credible agencies and asked the company to furnish the reports online.
While the order clearly stated that CIL should strictly follow the guidelines prescribed by the Technical Committee, the CIL’s counsel Prasad Vijaykumar, told TNM, “We have sought clarifications regarding certain guidelines. Depending on the response, the company will complete the required procedure for reopening the plant.”
It was around 11:30 pm on December 26, 2023, that the pressure in the pipelines carrying ammonia gas in the sea bed dropped, resulting in leakage. The TNPCB had earlier submitted a report to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) Southern Division stating that 67.638 metric tonnes of ammonia had leaked within a span of 15 minutes from CIL’s pipeline. The TNPCB also said that the leakage took place during the pre-cooling process that is carried out before transporting ammonia from the ships to the storage tank in order to maintain the temperature of the pipelines on the sea bed.
Residents were alerted by workers who were returning from their late night shifts by word of mouth, after which they rushed out of their homes in large numbers. Forty two persons were hospitalised with breathing difficulties and skin irritation, among other health issues. Residents from 33 villages in Ennore have been protesting since December 27, demanding the permanent closure of the CIL.