Four years on, ammunition heap in Gummidipoondi still not disposed
Huge heaps of discarded ammunition, including unexploded cannon balls, found at the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT) estate near Gummidipoondi, about 50km from here, more than four years ago have still not been disposed.
After a detailed examination by forensic experts and others, including 'Q' branch sleuths, police officers informed army officials about the dump. Some officials from the army conducted a probe but little has been done to dispose of the pile.
The nearly 70 tonnes of discarded ammunition, some of it dating to the pre-World War II era, near the SIPCOT police station pose a threat to the scores of small-scale industries on the SIPCOT campus and local residents.
Several attempts by the state government to dispose of the piles after getting them examined by defence personnel have failed. Recently, after the owners of a few small-scale units on the SIPCOT campus wrote to the state home department of their fear about the undisposed ammunition heaps, a senior officer assigned a team to visit the place and submit a detailed report.
A home department official said, "after we get the report from the police team, we will discuss with top officials ways to dispose the ammo." "The unexploded ammunition and cannon balls will be taken to a secluded place and dispose," a police officer said.
The discovery of the huge pile of unexploded shells and rockets, besides cannon balls, on the premises of a metal parts manufacturing firm on the SIPCOT estate came about when two teenagers were injured in a blast while trying to build a fire near a well.
Later, a police team found that one of the firms on the estate got the unexploded cannon balls as part of a consignment of scrap from Dubai. But it is not known where Dubai sourced them from.
Police sources said most scrap companies import scrap from the US, Europe and Dubai. Police sources said the rest of the ammunition might have been dumped in the well or buried there. It probably dates back to the pre-World War II era.