Health of women, children at risk; drop thermal power project at Ennore: Indian Academy of Pediatrics tell State govt
Officials cite study with under-5 children from Ennore which found that incidence of respiratory infection was 63 times higher than Chennai as reported in 2019-2021 National Family Health Survey
Ennore Power plant
CHENNAI: The Environment and Child Health Chapter (ECHC) of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics has urged the State government to scrap the 660 MW ETPS Expansion Thermal Power Project at Ennore citing adverse impacts on pregnant women and children.
“As physicians deeply concerned about the health of our children and adolescents, we’re convinced that Ennore needs urgent intervention in the form of pollution mitigation measures and that the proposed project within the city limits must be abandoned in the interests of health,” Dr TM Anandakesavan, chairperson, ECHC, said in a letter to Chennai Collector and TNPCB member secretary.
A public hearing for the project will be held on December 20 for a fresh environment clearance. Citing various reports commissioned by the National Green Tribunal, he said that Ennore was already dangerously polluted and people, particularly, children, are reeling from it. “A Joint Experts Committee’s report submitted in a case challenging the pollution by the North Chennai Thermal Power Station revealed that cancer risk among children in Ennore was up to 4,000 times more than acceptable background levels of 1x10E-06 (1 cancer case in a million population),” he added.
Dr TM Anandakesavan also pointed to another study by Healthy Energy Initiative and SRM Medical College and Hospital of under-5 children from Ennore which found that the incidence of respiratory infection among them was 63 times higher than prevalence rates for Chennai as reported in the 2019-2021 National Family Health Survey, and 15 times higher than rates for Tiruvallur. He referred to the Environmental Impact Assessment held for the proposed project, which revealed that the air quality baseline is already polluted, with 186 out of 217 samples exceeding National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for PM10, and 74 above NAAQS for PM2.5.
“Ennore already hosts 3,300 MW of coal-fired electricity plants; an additional 2,120 MW is in the pipeline. This is an unhealthy situation. If this plant is allowed, Chennai will have 6,080 MW of polluting coal-based power plants within its metropolitan area,” he averred.
