Oil spill in chennai’s ennore creek destroys livelihoods of fishers in eight villages

Meanwhile, the state government’s State of Oil Spill - Crisis Management Group (SOS-CMG) concluded after extensive field visits that the oil spillage had indeed happened from the premises of

CPCL, entering into Buckingham Canal from guard ponds and stormwater drain ponds, before finally reaching Ennore Creek. “This had adversely impacted people living in the nearby fishing

villages,” reported the committee after visiting the area. The SOS-CMG, chaired by Chief Secretary Shiv Das Meena, was formed on December 10.  After its field visits, the SOS-CMG directed

the CPCL to deploy mitigation efforts on a war footing basis with necessary men and machinery under expert guidance. The CPCL was also asked to ramp up mitigation measures and complete the

task as soon as possible. The Department of Health has deployed a team of doctors to provide treatment to those affected with specialised services from dermatologists. The Environment,

Climate Change and Forests (ECC&F) Department is also assessing the biodiversity loss in the area due to the oil spillage. “A special camp for the treatment of domestic and stray animals

has been organised by the Animal Husbandry, Dairying, Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare Department. The Coast Guard was requested to provide technical assistance to ground-level teams in

carrying out mitigation measures as per the norms. Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board has also issued a notice to M/s. CPCL under section 33(A) of the Water (Prevention and Control of

Pollution) with directions to comply with the norms prescribed under the extant rules,” said SOS-CMG’s press note. Environmentalist Nityanand Jayaraman says the government should look beyond

the oil spill to revive the microhabitats and biodiversity of the canal, river, and Ennore Creek, which lost its natural ecosystem over the period due to the excessive ash dumping exercise

from the North Chennai Thermal Power Station. He also pointed out the government’s inaction towards the direction given by the NGT in 2022. “The NGT directed the state government to notify

the full extent of the un-encroached portion of the Ennore wetlands under the Tamil Nadu Wetland Mission, to protect the ecosystem from being violated further. It also directed the ECC&F

to submit the detailed project report (DPR) in 9 months. But we have not seen any progress since then,” he says. Speaking about the unsafe and exposed practices of removing oil using mugs

and industrial drums, he says that everyone takes the safety issue lightly and exposes themselves to hazardous inspection and removal methods. “The fishers should be used for their

traditional knowledge, as they know more about this place than anyone else to restore the canal and river. But unfortunately, they have been used as cheap labourers to remove the oil using

bare hands without basic protection gears,” he says, reiterating that exposure to this spillage even with protective gear will cause severe health issues.  Environment engineer Prabhakara

Veeraarasu, who is associated with an environmental organisation named Poovulagin Nanbargal, calls this disaster an “injustice against the working-class fisher communities.” “This oil spill

incident has a greater impact than the 2017 oil spill, which was followed by the collision of two ships at sea. The coastal guard survey has currently said that the oil is spread around 20

sq km, but it excluded the spread between Ennore to Kalanji and the 7 km stretch between Manali and the Buckingham canal,” he says. WATCH: FISHING COMMUNITY IN ENNORE STRUGGLES AFTER OIL

SPILL IN ENNORE