A study by Chennai Solidarity Group in August this year, showed that an estimated 100 kg of mercury has washed off into the eco-sensitive Pambar Shola forest in Kodaikanal Wildlife Sanctuary triggering concern for wildlife and birds in the area. Originally published at The Federal: N Vinoth Kumar 05 October, 2021 Palani Hills, one of […]
4 October, 2021. Chennai — Even as environmental sampling data from Pambar Shola and River clearly indicate mercury exceeding levels of concern in soil, sediment and moss, Unilever’s consultant NEERI has downplayed the dangers by comparing the data with incorrect standards to conclude that the Unilever site is not a threat to the Pambar Shola […]
Hindustan Unilever Ltd has clear-felled 425 trees as part of the remediation of mercury-contaminated soil in the four acres of its now-defunct factory in Kodaikanal, say activists. From The News Minute: Read Original Sreedevi Jayarajan Follow @Sreedevi_Jay on Twitter Sixty-five artists, educators, ecologists, and environmentalists have written to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Stalin urging the […]
At least 100 kg of soil-bound mercury is likely to have been washed off into the ecosensitive Pambar Shola section of the Kodaikanal Wildlife Sanctuary since Unilever illegally chopped down more than 300 trees from 4 acres of its heavily contaminated factory site in January 2020, a study done by Chennai Solidarity Group revealed.
Unilever’s unending racism: Image gallery and fact-sheet: Tamil | English 29 June, 2018. CHENNAI Artists and social activists in Chennai and Kodaikanal today released “Kodaikanal Still Won’t” — a music video that brands the Anglodutch multinational Unilever’s double standards in cleaning up its mercury contaminated factory site in Kodaikanal as a case of environmental racism. The video featuring rapper Sofia Ashraf […]
CHENNAI: The three-month soil remediation trials carried out by Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) in the now-defunct thermometer factory at Kodaikanal failed to achieve even the ‘liberal’ 20 mg/kg mercury clean-up standard. Environmentalists suspect that the trials may have liberated more mercury to the environment than was recovered. While the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and […]
PRESS RELEASE — 12 November, 2017. MADURAI Download Media Kit A study by IIT-Hyderabad has found high levels of mercury in fish from Kodaikanal lake and ponds fed by the Pambar Stream in Periakulam plains. A letter written by IIT-H scientist Prof. Asif Qureshi to Theni and Dindigul district collectors, and Kodaikanal municipal commisioner on August 2, 2017 urges the administration […]
Hindustan Unilever has proposed to clean the mercury contamination in Kodaikanal to a standard that is 20 times WEAKER than what may be considered safe for residents in the United Kingdom, where Unilever is headquartered. What is more shocking is that the Central Pollution Control Board seems to have endorsed this. Please don’t accept Unilever’s […]
The verdant hills, forests and grasslands of Kodaikanal — a popular tourist destination in South India — hides a toxic secret. Unsafe practices of handling and disposing hazardous material at Unilever’s mercury thermometer factory has exposed hundreds of workers to toxic mercury and contaminated the local environment. Dozens of workers have died prematurely, and hundreds of others and their families are struggling to cope with illnesses they believe are caused by exposure to mercury. The tonnes of mercury released into Kodai’s environment by the company has polluted the soil and water and can affect generations to come unless it is cleaned up to exacting standards. In fact, ex-workers say that Unilever’s toxic act is already claiming lives and futures of a second generation of victims. The company, for its part, acknowledges that mercury contaminates the environment but denies that its past practices and its failure to clean up is hurting people.
