Chromium contamination: HC orders issuing notice to Centre, TN govt

Chennai, May 22 (PTI) The Madras High Court on Wednesday ordered issuing notice to the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government on a petition which sought a direction to the authorities to take immediate action on remediation process of chromium contamination in an abandoned chemical unit in the state’s Ranipet district.

A division bench comprising Justices G R Swaminathan and P B Balaji ordered issuing notice and posted to June 10, further hearing of a Public Interest Litigation filed by advocate K Balu, also President, Advocates’ Forum for Social Justice.

In his petition, Balu, the PMK’s nominee for the April 26 Lok Sabha elections in the state, said he had covered the entire Ranipet district for electioneering and came to know of chromium contamination issue in the factory belonging to Tamil Nadu Chromates and Chemicals Limited (TNCCL), which was increasingly becoming a major environmental and biological threat.

He had visited the factory and could sense an unpleasant metallic odour in the air.

He said the general public expressed frustration with government representatives who only visited them during elections with false promises to set up facilities for the remediation of chromium-dumped sites. Notably, there was not a single sign or evidence of any remediation efforts by the present government on the factory premises, he alleged.

Balu said despite the cessation of operations, the remnants of its industrial activities, notably the accumulation of chromium sludge within its premises, continues to pose significant risks to the surrounding ecosystem and public health. Following the closure of TNCCL in 1995, the issue of chromium contamination in Ranipet remained largely overlooked for years, with no action being taken to address the looming environmental crisis, he added.

He said the National Green Tribunal (NGT) took ‘suo motu’ action based on a news report addressing the issue in 2020 and gave directives. However, no major changes seem to have been effected.

He said that on May 7, he made a detailed representation to the Government of Tamil Nadu as well as the Union Government and their respective relevant authorities, to prioritise the removal and decontamination of chromium deposits in Ranipet. However, no action was taken till date. Hence, he filed the present PIL, he added.