A Tamil Nadu department escaped the new government churn. 16 factory deaths could change that

In its communication dated June 25, the Commission noted that the victims were predominantly women migrant workers from Odisha and other states, who were not only employed at the factory but were also residing in accommodation provided within the premises. It asked the district administration to examine whether the factory possessed the required licences and approvals to handle ammonia, and whether it complied with labour safety, occupational health and statutory regulations.

The Commission has also sought an inquiry into whether workers were compelled to stay inside the factory premises, whether key laws were violated, and whether there was any intimidation by the management.

The fatal leak

The leak occurred on June 21 at the factory in Kannigaipair village near Periyapalayam. Around 80 workers were on the ground floor sorting, cleaning and packaging seafood products, while nearly 60 women workers were asleep on the first floor after completing their shifts. The same floor housed machinery and refrigeration equipment that used ammonia.

Workers said an ammonia pipeline ruptured after pressure built up in the system. Within minutes, toxic gas spread through the first floor. Women woke up gasping for breath, their eyes and throats burning. Some ran through the gas-filled floor, while others took shelter in restrooms. Many were disoriented and unable to call for help. Male workers on the ground floor rushed out after sensing the pungent gas, but many returned to the building repeatedly to rescue those trapped.

According to an internal report submitted before the government, women sleeping near the machinery were exposed before anyone realised the scale of the leak and that the air on the first floor was so toxic that rescuers themselves struggled to breathe. When the rescue attempts started, witness accounts said it was impossible to enter the building because the gas concentration was extremely high.

Of the deceased, 13 were from Odisha, two from Assam and one from Jharkhand. Most were tribals. Odisha officials found that some workers had reportedly obtained jobs using forged or borrowed Aadhaar cards, and the irregularities came to light after a woman initially listed among the deceased was found to be alive and working in Andhra Pradesh. Officials suspect that a former supervisor arranged jobs for workers using fake or borrowed documents, especially for young women. Police have arrested factory owners M Joseph Jegan and M Mohan, manager R Daniel, and Odisha labour agent Suresh.

A three-member expert committee constituted by the State government, comprising the Director of the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health, the Member-Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and the Additional Director of Public Health, has recommended permanent closure of the company. It has also recommended inspections of 1,774 factories across the state that use hazardous chemicals, including around 60 seafood export units.

A department under scanner

But the disaster has also brought DISH itself under sharper scrutiny. Unlike several major departments where senior administrative layers are held by IAS officers, DISH has traditionally been run largely by career departmental officers promoted from within, a practice often justified on the grounds that industrial safety requires specialised technical expertise.

A senior government secretary told The Indian Express that the department has long remained an exception to administrative reshuffles. “After the present government assumed office, widespread transfers were carried out across departments and at multiple levels to dismantle entrenched networks. But the Factory Department was largely untouched. Officers continued in the same positions, dealing with the same employers and industrial establishments for years,” the official said.

The official said recurring industrial disasters, including fireworks factory explosions in Sivakasi and now the Tiruvallur ammonia leak, have repeatedly led to criminal cases against factory owners, while questions about inspection failures have seldom resulted in disciplinary action against officials responsible for enforcement.

The National Human Rights Commission has also taken suo motu cognisance of the incident and issued notices to Tamil Nadu’s Chief Secretary and Director-General of Police, seeking a detailed report within two weeks.

For the families of the women who died, the question remains: why did a workplace that housed sleeping migrant women beside hazardous refrigeration equipment remain invisible to the regulatory system?