Report filed by the Director, Industrial Safety and Health, Tamil Nadu on the ammonium nitrate stored in a Chennai storehouse, 19/08/2020
Report filed on behalf of the Director, Industrial Safety and Health, Tamil Nadu in Original Application No. 173 of 2020. The report was filed after the NGT sought clarification on 700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored in Customs bonded warehouse in Ponneri Road, Manali, Chennai. The ammonium nitrate was seized in October 2015 at Chennai port.
The report dated August 19, 2020 stated that the premises wherein ammonium nitrate was stored, was not a factory as per Factories Act, 1948. Thus, the inspection on the isolated storage was out of the purview and jurisdiction of Director of Industrial Safety and Health. And the same was communicated to the Chairman, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) through letter dated August 7, 2020.