NOT ANOTHER BHOPAL IN ENNORE. #CloseCoromandel
Bhopal Gas Tragedy survivor-leader Champa Devi met & found common cause wth women survivors of Ennore gas leak. Bhopal/Ennore gas leaks caused bcos govts put marginalised communities in harm's way in name of development. Read on 1/n

https://twitter.com/padmajaTOI/status/1808826237055553838

Statement by Champa Devi Shukla, Bhopal gas tragedy survivor:
December 2024 is the 40th anniversary of the Bhopal Gas Leak disaster & the first anniversary of the Ennore Ammonia Gas Leak disaster caused by Murugappa Group-owned Coromandel Int'l 2/n

Chronology of a Betrayal: How successive state govts fooled Pulicat-Kattupalli fishers to enrich fat-cat corporations! In 2008, the govt force-evicted Kattupalli Kuppam fishers fm their newly-built tsunami homes to make way for TIDCO-L&T port-cum-shipbuilding yard. 1/n Kattupalli Kuppam was ousted & shifted 2 km fm sea. Productive fishing grounds lost to harbour. Now fishers are forced to walk 2 km to get to the beach. With limited access to beach, women were eliminated from fisheries workforce drastically hurting home economy. 2/n

Reckless Multinationals: Unilever Clearfells trees from 4 acres of mercury contaminated forest site. Triggers dangerous mercury discharge into Kodaikanal Wildlife Sanctuary. @CMOTamilnadu @KanimozhiDMK @SMeyyanathan @SundarrajanG @tmkrishna 1/n At least 100 kg of toxic mercury washed out to Pambar Shola with rainwater since Jan 2020 when trees were removed, according to study by Chennai Solidarity Group. Forest Dept knew but did nothing. 2/n

On 23 April, GoTN’s counsel & CJI Bobde made it appear as though the people of Thoothukudi were standing between India and her Oxygen. A day b4 his retirement, the CJI realised India’s need. BBC knew about it in Sept 2020. See article below. 1/n bbc.com/news/world-asi… On evening of 22 April, Thoothukudi Police sent missives to key people involved in the agitations against Sterlite asking them to attend a hurriedly put together “public consultation” at 8 am, next day at the collectorate. 2/n

Coal-fired power plants use Hydrogen gas, produced through alkaline electrolysis, for cooling generators. O2 produced as byproduct is wasted to air. GoI's concern for O2 is overshadowed by its concern for Vedanta-Sterlite. 1/n Ennore Power Plant, also closed and idle, has 300 m3/day oxygen manufacturing capacity. Why not use this? Tuticorin Thermal Plant (TTPS) has 600 m3/hr. North Chennai Thermal Power Station has 600 m3/hr capacity. Why all this talk only about env offender Vedanta? 2/n

Vedanta's offer of producing oxygen @ sealed & shut Thoothukudi copper smelter complex is duplicitous & must be rejected. Reasons why and how to reject without compromising state's ability to source extra oxygen. #BanSterlite 1/n The plant is shutdown by weight of two separate orders. 1) for a serious violation of safety norms & causing massive SO2 gas leak in March 2013 that injured 1000s in Thoothukudi. 2) a permanent closure order by GoTN in May 2018. #BanSterlite 2/n

DMK's manifesto sidesteps critical environmental justice issues. The planet is going to hell in a handbasket; whats proposed is tree planting, CNG buses, ban on wallposters. Meanwhile mega thermal power plants in wetlands in Cheyyur/Udangudi r to be revived. #Disappointing What's said is more disturbing than all that could have been said but has been left unsaid. No mention of protection for sanctuaries -- only upgradation of tourist facilities and research. Vedanthangal denotification; threat to Pulicat find no mention. 2/n

Adani now wants a big chunk of Tamil Nadu to build a port that no-one wants, in one of the most ecologically diverse, sensitive and vibrant fishing grounds of the state. Thank you Smrithi Amarendran, @Yuvan_aves. Adani #WapasJao #StopAdaniSavePulicat 1/4 Besides disturbing biodiversity, Adani's port will harm Chennai by compromising the city's water security and making it more vulnerable to floods. P.S. Small error. The Green Turtles shld actually have been Olive Ridley Sea Turtles. 2/4