- As Tamil Nadu goes to polls tomorrow, we look at the environmental issues that Chennai faced since the 2014 national elections, through the camera lens.
- The disastrous floods of 2015 and the Ennore oil spill stand out in the list. In addition, the city’s air and water have become more polluted than ever before.
- The city’s garbage has continued to remain a threat to the environment and health of the people living in the city.
- Through Amirtharaj Stephen’s lens, Mongabay-India takes a look at Chennai’s environment over the last five years.
Since the 2014 national elections, the capital city of Tamil Nadu has witnessed major environmental calamities, from the disastrous floods of December 2015 to the giant oil spill outside Kamarajar Port at Ennore in early 2017. Apart from these distinct events, the vast expanse of Chennai metropolitan area has seen an increase in pollution – both of water bodies that serve the city’s seven million population and the ambient air.
When the floods struck in December 2015, the most iconic images were those of Chennai’s famed beaches lined with mountains of trash. Waste such as plastic materials, wrappers, bottles, covers, metals, scrap and wooden logs were spread out on display along the coastline of the Bay of Bengal in Chennai, across Marina and Elliot’s beaches.
More than a year later, during the early hours on January 28, 2017, there was a giant oil spill outside Kamarajar port, when the outbound B.W. Maple collided with an inbound tanker Dawn Kanchipuram. A total of 251.46 tonnes of black, sticky oil coated the Ennore coast.
Reports state that the oil spill was removed largely by the hand, with more than 2000 volunteers and labourers using mugs and buckets. However, the damage remained toxic, killing olive ridley turtles and other marine fauna on Chennai’s beaches.