CHENNAI: As fire raged all day long in the
Chennai Silks
building on South Usman Road in T Nagar, the thick smoke billowing out affected residents in areas as far away as
Ashok Nagar
and
Kodambakkam
, with many complaining of irritation in eyes and throats.
M Saravanan of
Janakiraman Street
, which is close to South Usman Road, said: "Since morning we have kept the windows closed and we are unable to sleep due to this".
The strong winds blew the smoke in a northwesterly direction towards Kodambakkam and people in the area were seen going around wearing face masks whose sale saw a sudden surge. Children planning to frolick in the open at the fag end of the vacation were forced to stay indoors.
More problems could be in the offing, say experts, warning that carcinogenic substances such as dioxins released into the atmosphere could spread far and wide.
A former
Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board
(TNPCB) official said special equipment to calculate the spread of such substances was currently only available with the Central Pollution Control Board in New Delhi.
As an immediate step, he said, a survey on the ambient air quality in the affected area has to be taken up. The carcinogens dispersed in the atmosphere and the effect they could have in the surrounding areas should be identified, he added. An ambient air quality monitoring station is functioning in T
Nagar
and should be tasked with job, he added.
The task will not be easy, he cautioned. The city's commercial hub was impossibly crowded and highly polluted, with the level of standard particulate matter way above the prescribed limits.
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