Six people have been hospitalised upon an ammonia gas leak from a fertiliser manufacturing facility pipe in Ennore near Chennai on the night of December 26. They were discharged from the hospital on the morning of December 27 and their condition is reported to be stable.
People residing near the shore complained of uneasiness and difficulty breathing once the strong smell permeated the air near a subsea pipe of Coromandel International Limited. The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board announced that the leak was detected soon after and contained.
“There is no need to panic as the leak has been stabilised. No more ammonia gas leaks at Ennore. People have been reassured and are back home. Medical and police teams are present.” Avadi Police Commissioner Vijayakumar stated in a post on X
As per the officials, the information was given about the gas leak at 12:45 am and environment officials were dispatched to inspect the location where bubbles formation was seen coming out of the subsea pipeline.
“The officials immediately reached the pipeline location across the road and witnessed gas bubbles coming out of the pipeline at about 2 inches from the shore. The unit immediately engaged in depressurising the pipeline by diverting the ammonia vapour to the flare and completed the operation in around 20 minutes,” the Tamil Nadu Environment and Forest Department said.
In a statement put out by Coromandel International Limited, they said an “abnormality” was observed at 11.30 pm in the ammonia unloading subsea pipeline near shoreside. “Our Standard Operating Procedure got activated immediately and we isolated the ammonia system facility and brought the situation to normalcy in the shortest time.”
Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board officials informed NDTV about the setting up of a committee of pollution and environmental experts to investigate the matter.
