North Chennai residents demand environmental policy and closure of hazardous facilities

Status: cleared

Chennai: The Federation of North Chennai Residents Welfare Associations and environmental activists have urged the Tamil Nadu govt to implement a dedicated environmental policy for the region. They urged the authorities to immediately shut down hazardous facilities and redirect developmental priorities towards public welfare.

At a conference on environmental safety at Erukencherry held on Sunday, environmentalists and public health specialists said they would organise a human chain involving 10,000 people across North Chennai on May 25 if their demands were not met. During the conference, experts raised serious concerns about the transformation of several areas in North Chennai into chemical hubs. They said that unchecked industrial activities impacted the health of residents.

"Major chemical companies such as petroleum refineries, oil refineries, thermal power plants, and incinerators operate in North Chennai, and no other district faces this kind of industrial clustering," said Federation of North Chennai Residents Welfare Association President T K Shanmugam. "The region bears the disproportionate burden of the state's heavy industries. The govt continues to neglect the northern part of the city in every aspect and does not prioritise the health of the people or address the environmental hazards while implementing harmful projects," he added.

Experts also criticised the civic body's proposal to install an incinerator plant at the Kodungaiyur dump yard. They said that such an initiative would further deteriorate air quality and pose additional health risks to the residents of North Chennai. South Asia Consortium for Interdisciplinary Water Resources Studies President Dr S Janakarajan said Canada shut down 26 incinerators in recent years. "Many more are being phased out globally. In contrast, these projects are still being implemented here without concern for their impact on the environment or local communities," he said.

The federation members and environmental activists demanded the permanent closure of incinerator plants in Manali and the scrapping of the waste-to-energy project in Kodungaiyur, citing health and environmental risks. The activists stressed that development projects implemented by the govt should be people-centric and environmentally sustainable.

A petition outlining their concerns will be submitted to Minister for Municipal Administration K N Nehru, Chennai Mayor R Priya, Chief Secretary N Muruganandam, and Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner J Kumaragurubaran. "If there is no response from the authorities, we will begin a door-to-door campaign distributing pamphlets to spread awareness," said MGR Nagar People Welfare Association President G Balu.

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