Chemical Firm Hits Green Hurdle
CUDDALORE, 29 Jan 2015: Environment activists and villagers expressed opposition to the proposed expansion of Clariant, a private chemical company functioning in Cuddalore SIPCOT, during a public hearing on Wednesday. The hearing, chaired by Cuddalore RDO M Sharmila was organised by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board. District environment engineer Raja was also present. Read media story...

Worker Dies in Banned Firm
CHIDAMBARAM, 19th January 2015 : A worker from Bihar died in an accident in a private power company near Chidambaram on Sunday. Sources said Uttam Yadav (22) was a construction worker in IL&FS, a power company, at Karikuppam near Chidambaram, where he accidentally fell from a 20-foot high structure. Read media story...

Worker Killed in an Accident at IL&FS Power Plant in Cuddalore
Cuddalore, 18 January 2015: One worker lost his life in an accident at the construction site of IL&FS power plant in Cuddalore. According to the sources the accident took place in the morning today during the ongoing construction activities at the factory site. Read more...

NTPC the only bidder for Tamil Nadu UMPP
Cheyyur, 24 December 2014:NTPC, the state-owned thermal power generation giant, might lose the chance to build its first ultra mega power project (UMPPs), as the government is likely to scrap the bidding process for the Cheyyur UMPP in Tamil Nadu. There is also a likelihood that bids for Odisha UMPP would also be shelved as NTPC and NHPC are the only bidders in race for it. Read media story...

Stop All Work, TNPCB Orders Pvt Power Co
CUDDALORE, 16th December 2014: Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) has ordered the IL&FS Power Company near Chidambaram to stop all construction work at the site, following the cancellation of environmental clearance by the National Green Tribunal last month. Read media story...

Survey report puts Cheyyur project in trouble
CHENNAI, 14 December 2014: A rapid survey conducted by a city environmental group has claimed the existence of structures of historical and religious importance near the site of the proposed 4000 Megawatt Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) in Cheyyur near here, contradicting the conclusions of the project proponents. Read media story...

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...