"The goods are safe and pose no danger" a senior Customs department official told PTI
Following the massive explosion in Lebanese capital Beirut on August 4 due to the unsafe storage of ammonium nitrate that killed at least 135 people and injured thousands, serious concerns have been raised of nearly 700 tonne of the explosive chemical lying in a Chennai warehouse.
However, Customs authorities on August 6 sought to allay fears over safety regarding the storage of nearly 700 tonne of ammonium nitrate at the container freight station. "The goods are safe and pose no danger" a senior Customs department official told PTI.
The official said the sleuths had in November 2015 seized 697 tonne of ammonium nitrate in 37 containers valued at Rs 1.8 crore from an importer who "had misdeclared the goods as ammonium nitrate of fertiliser grade, whereas on examination it was found to be explosive grade."
The containers were seized and have been lying at the container freight station while the licence of the importer had been cancelled for not following Ammonium Nitrate Rules, 2012. While seven tonne of the chemical was damaged during the December 2015 deluge, the remaining 690 tonne were in the process of being e-auctioned, he said.
Earlier during the day, political party Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder S Ramadoss urged the government to take immediate steps to safely dispose of the ammonium nitrate, saying a possible Beirut-like incident should be avoided.
Expressing concern over the reported huge quantity of the seized chemical kept at the freight station since 2015, he said the uncleared substance could be a risk and that it should be safely disposed of or utilised for purposes like composting.