Residents of Ernavur Kuppam and VOC Nagar, two villages in Ennore, Chennai, were given cash payouts by members of their village committees on Friday, September 13. Ernavur Kuppam and VOC Nagar were among the 33 villages in Ennore that had protested against Murugappa Group's Coromandel International Limited (CIL) for over 100 days following the ammonia gas leak on December 26, 2023.
The ammonia leak in December 2023 had hospitalized 42 people, prompting villagers to demand the permanent closure of the plant. Although the fertiliser unit was temporarily shut down, the company received conditional clearance from the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in May 2024.
TNM had earlier reported that almost Rs 3.85 crores were distributed to four other villages in Ennore in August. While villagers claimed the money was arranged by the company, the company denied this after our first story was published on August 21.
TNM visited Ernavur Kuppam and VOC Nagar on September 14 and found that the 200 families in Ernavur Kuppam—a fishing hamlet near the CIL plant—were each given Rs 5,000. In VOC Nagar, located 2.5 km from the plant, 303 families were offered Rs 2,000 each. While some families in VOC Nagar accepted the cash, many others refused it.
Lalita, a resident of VOC Nagar, told TNM, “On Friday night, VOC Nagar’s village committee members came to my doorstep and said that the company has given us money and that we should accept it. I did not accept the money. I want the company to close down and I don't want any of these villages to be affected by the company again.” She added, “When the decision was made to protest against the company, they held a general meeting in our village to ask our opinions. It was collectively decided that we would sit on dharna. But now, the village committee members have gone and sealed a deal without even asking the residents.”
Pavithra, another resident from the village, had also refused the money. “When I asked where the money came from, one person said it was received directly from the company while the other said it had come through the MLA. I don’t know which version to trust,” she said.
TNM also accessed videos showing VOC Nagar residents confronting village committee members who were distributing cash door-to-door after 9 p.m. on Friday. In one of the videos, a resident who refused the cash payout questions a committee member about the records being kept of those accepting or rejecting the money. "Tomorrow, if something happens again and I raise concerns, no one should accuse me of taking money. So, what record are you keeping?" the woman asks. The committee member responds, "We are noting down the names of those refusing the money, and we will print and distribute the list."
One of the committee members of VOC Nagar said, “We were given Rs 6 lakh in cash and we distributed Rs 2,000 to each house.” He said that the money not accepted by 25-30 families would be returned. However, the committee member declined to name those who had delivered the cash.
The committee member also added that CIL has promised to build them a water pump, a gym, a community hall and have also agreed to pay the school fees of students whose families fall below the poverty line.
Meanwhile, in Ernavur Kuppam, Rs 5,000 in cash was accepted by almost all the 200 people who regularly contribute vari (tax) to the village.
A resident, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told TNM that there was little resistance from this village, as most of the residents are fishermen and their catch from the sea has significantly declined over the past month.
This resident alleged that DMK MLA of Thiruvottiyur, KP Shankar had spoken to the village committee members about the payouts. The MLA however denied the allegations and told TNM that he was not involved in the matter. CIL also in a statement to TNM said that the company wouldn’t like to respond to any “rumours.”
Conditions for accepting cash
As in the other villages, the village committee members of Ernavur Kuppam and VOC Nagar also had a document with them. The unsigned and undated document in Tamil, read, “We are happy after meeting the company management. We request them to take adequate precautionary measures to ensure the safety of the villages surrounding the plant. On behalf of the villagers, we promise that we will support the company on all aspects and will not allow any outside groups or NGOs to create any hurdles. We do not have any objection towards restarting the operations of the plant. We will extend our cooperation to the operations of the Coromandel company.”
Ilayaraja, a resident and committee member of Ulaganathapuram village in Ennore said, “This unsigned and undated document outlines the conditions for accepting the cash. The MLA attempted to mediate a similar deal with our village and this document was sent to me. However in our village, we read out these conditions and made it clear to our people that accepting the money would prevent us from questioning the company. So, we have firmly said we won’t take any money from the company.”
Previously, TNM had accessed a signed document with the same contents from a different village that had accepted the money.
Residents of Thalankuppam and Nettukuppam villages had said that Rs 1 crore was distributed by village committee, while in Periyakuppam the amount was Rs 50 Lakh and Rs 35 lakhs in Chinnakuppam. The village- tax (vari) paying residents of each of these villages were paid Rs 10,000 each.
The company, in a statement released on August 24, said that the allegations of money having been paid are “baseless and untrue.” The statement further said, “A section of media reports involving the company’s name are totally baseless and untrue. The company has always been adhering to the highest governance standards and may take appropriate action against any false and misleading information.”
A citizen’s collective comprising retired High Court judges K Kannan, D Hariparanthaman and others, had demanded that the state government should initiate a probe into these allegations. They asked for the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC), the Income Tax (IT) Department and other appropriate independent agencies to probe the matter.