News report from SipcotCuddalore.com

Analysis report of the air sample taken near Coromandel Indag factory in SIPCOT Cuddalore:

SACEM found 10 chemicals in a sample taken last month during a fire at the abandoned Coromandel Indag factory in SIPCOT.

On May 20th, 2006, there was a fire at the premises of the now-abandoned Coromandel Indag factory in SIPCOT, Cuddalore. The fire started at about 4 p.m. and continued till late in the evening. There was thick white smoke emanating from the unit that sent waves of panic in the surrounding communities. One woman, Lakshmi (35), wife of Mr. Rajiv residing near Hemalatha Hitech, was hospitalized as a result of the exposure to the toxic fumes. There was a very strong acidic odour and the smoke carried as far as the Cuddalore Old Town about 3 kms from the chemical complex. The wind was gentle and from the South East to North West. SACEM reports that people complained of dizziness, headache and eye irritation as a result of exposure to the smoke. Responding to the emergency, SACEM took an air sample downwind of the smoke from the unit at about 8:40 pm. The fire engine arrived at about 8 pm and finally and the fire was put out by 9 pm. The Fire Department personnel complained that they were ill-equipped to handle disasters and hazardous incidents in SIPCOT because they did not have an ambulance. Neither did the Fire Department have any knowledge about the chemicals on fire and they were unable to access anybody with that information. As a result, fire-extinguishing operations were delayed by nearly an hour complete report>>