On August 4, devastating news of a chemical explosion in Lebanon's capital Beirut shocked the world. A stockpile of over 2,700 tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate, a volatile chemical, had detonated after being left for years at the city's port, in a densely populated area. And even before the shock of the destruction was registered, the city of Chennai in India, received news that 740 tonnes of the same chemical has been lying for five years in a storage facility controlled by the Customs Department.
An inspection conducted by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) found that the chemical substance was transported from the Chennai Port and stored in a Container Freight Station (CFS) since September 27, 2015. The nearest residential areas from this storage point are 700 metres to the North and 1500 metres to the east. The population that would be affected if something were to go wrong? A total of 12,000 people.
"We haven't explicitly mentioned this in the final report. But storing an explosive chemical so close to populated areas can definitely be penalised, but we don't have the authority to do this," says a senior official in the TNPCB, on condition of anonymity.
According to the Ammonium Nitrate Rules, 2012 published in the Gazette of India, a storehouse for this chemical cannot be located in populated areas. “And while they have offered legal tussles as the reason for the delay in auctioning the material, this does not explain why it was not moved to a safer storage space in the last five years," the TNPCB official adds.
So how did this substance end up at the Chennai Port?
Speaking to TNM, a source in the Customs Department says the substance had been seized from Sri Amman Chemicals, a company based in Karur, which failed to produce the necessary licenses for the use of Ammonium Nitrate. He further admits that the chemical was only meant to remain in the Container Freight Station temporarily.
"Once some material is seized, we cannot keep it in the harbour and so we moved it to the container station," says the official. A total of 37 containers each carrying 20 tons of Ammonium Nitrate were stored, stacked in sets of three. "But the importers we seized it from – Sri Amman Chemicals – took the matter to court, claiming they had the requisite license for the material," he explains.
According to the Madras High Court order in the matter, Sri Amman Chemicals was attempting to sell the chemical to several individuals who did not possess the necessary license to buy it. This included explosive dealers who purchased Ammonium Nitrate from the company and used the chemical for their blasting operations at mines and quarries. The company had however claimed that the product was being sold for agricultural purposes.
The court found that Sri Amman Chemicals also sold small quantities to individuals and that the end users of the same are unknown.
In the past, Ammonium Nitrate has been used in terror attacks in India, including in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Malegaon, Pune, Delhi and Pulwama.
"Accumulating small quantities of Ammonium Nitrate periodically would result in gathering larger quantities in the hands of unknown and unidentified persons and hence allowing such trade to go on will not be the interest of national security. Therefore, the Authorities have rightly rejected the claim of the petitioner..," the High Court concluded.
The Customs department finally won the case in November 2019.
"Following this, we started the e-auction process earlier this year before COVID-19, but there has been a delay in the sales. Not enough buyers have come forward," says the Customs official.
But with the TNPCB making it clear that the stored Ammonium Nitrate will have to be cleared immediately, the Customs department will be forced to fast track the auctioning.
Auctions are held periodically by the Commissionerates for disposal of the goods they have seized. An auction committee is appointed consisting of a deputy or assistant commissioner of disposal and another deputy or assistant commissioner nominated by the Principal Commissioner. Following this, bids are accepted and goods are delivered, subject to receipt of full payment by the department. The delivery has to be taken within three working days.
According to the disposal manual of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, three major methods of disposal of goods are used, namely, e-auction or auction through the internet; public auction-cum-tender; and direct sale.
In the case of the Ammonium Nitrate, officials opted for an e-auction. If goods are not sold in the first auction, a second auction can be held under auction-cum-sealed tender.
Ammonium Nitrate is a crystalline substance used in the manufacturing of explosives, fertilisers and anesthetic gases amongst other materials. The chemical is not explosive by itself, however it is used as an ingredient for explosive materials used in mines and quarries. Ingredients like fuel or initiators like detonators are required to make it explode.