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Kodaikanal mercury thermometer factory shut

· Kodaikanal

Kodaikanal mercury thermometer factory shut
Paulshaffner, CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Protests forced the closure of Hindustan Unilever's mercury thermometer factory at Kodaikanal over contamination.

A mercury thermometer factory had been relocated from New York to Kodaikanal in 1983 and was owned by Hindustan Unilever. In early 2001 activists found broken thermometers with mercury remains dumped in shola forest, and workers complained of kidney ailments. In March 2001 a protest led by the local workers' union and Greenpeace forced the company to shut the factory. After years of litigation in the Madras High Court, the company agreed in 2016 to compensate former workers.

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