Two workers injured in Tagros
CUDDALORE, 29 June, 2009 - Two workers got injured in a bromine spill in Tagros Chemicals at 11.30 a.m. today. Read more...

Provide water to affected SIPCOT villages: Collector says
CUDDALORE, 20 June, 2009 - SIPCOT villages suffering from shortage of drinking water due to overdrawal of water by SIPCOT and groundwater pollution should be given clean water from the Tamilnadu Water Supply and Drainage Board's joint water project. Read more...

Accident at Chemplast during illegal operation
CUDDALORE, 19 June, 2009 -- Two workers were injured during unloading of "soda lime" from a truck at Chemplast Sanmar on 12 June, 2009, at 11 a.m. N. Rajkumar and Veeramani of Semmankuppam sustained burns on their arms and stomach, and were admitted to the Cuddalore Government Hospital. SACEM has reported the incident to the Tamilnadu Pollution Control Board, Inspector of Factories, and the District Collector. Read more...

Closure notice issued to Cuddalore pharma unit
CUDDALORE 5 June 2009: The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) has issued closure notice to Aurobindo Pharma Ltd., located in SIPCOT Industrial Estate complex here, for producing a chemical without its consent. Media story...

TNPCB Issues Closure Notice for Aurobindo Pharma for Consent Condition Violation; SACEM Demands Prosecution
Cuddalore 4 June 2009: The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board issued closure notice to Aurobindo Pharma for violating conditions levied on the unit in its Consent to Operate. Read more...

Pioneer Jellice Suspected to Discharge Illegal Effluents in Uppanar: Fishing Groups
Cuddalore 28 May 2009: Fishing groups in SIPCOT have complained about continual illegal discharges in the river Uppanar by Pioneer Jellice industry. Read more...

Call to check dumping of chemical waste
CUDDALORE 27 May 2009: The Cuddalore District Consumer Protection Organisation has voiced concern over indiscriminate dumping of chemical waste by unscrupulous tanker-lorry drivers in residential areas. Media story...

Unidentified Tanker Lorry Dumps SIPCOT Effluent in Cuddalore Town
Cuddalore 26 May, 2009: In another incident of continued blatant violation of environmental regulations in SIPCOT, Cuddalore town residents yesterday discovered an effluent dumped next TVM Marriage Hall compound by an unidentified tanker lorry. Read more...

Pollution Levels Continue to be High in SIPCOT Cuddalore
Cuddalore, 20 May 2009: The pollution levels in SIPCOT Cuddalore continue to be very high according to the SACEM monitors. Read more...

Inaction From TNPCB Helps SIPCOT Unit Cover Up Illegality
Cuddalore 27 April 2009: Local monitors report that delay from the TNPCB in taking action on the illegal operations of Aurobindo Pharma may have helped the unit cover up its illegalities and escape punishment. Read more...

Gas Leak in Plant 1 denied by Chemplast Sanmar
Mettur, 07 April 2009: A noxious gas leak between 8 and 8.45 p.m. on 6 April, 2009, from Chemplast Plant I (CFC division) brought angry villagers from Kavipuram and Desai Nagar to the plant gate. Read more...

Poison in the air

ASHA KRISHNAKUMAR
in Cuddalore
Frontline
The Hindu
04 June, 2005

Poisonous gases released into the air by some chemical units in the SIPCOT industrial estate in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, continue to endanger the lives and livelihoods of people in a number of villages in the absence of government action.

At the SIPCOT industrial estate in Cuddalore. Gases released by chemical units have severely affected the air quality in the area.

VILLAGES in the industrial area on the outskirts of Cuddalore town in Tamil Nadu are increasingly being identified more by pungent smells than their names - smells of rotten cabbage, burnt rubber, rotten egg, neem, detergent, human excreta, decomposing bodies, mosquito coils, rotting bones, decaying chikoo fruit, and nail polish. The smells come from toxic chemical compounds that are manufactured or released as effluents by the 18 companies in the industrial area and which have been damaging the environment and the health of more than 20,000 people in about 20 villages. Read more...