Heavy Metal - How a Global Corporation poisoned Kodaikanal : Ameer Shahul

Kodaikanal is a well-known tourist destination in India that attracts visitors from  many countries. Located over 2,000 metres above sea level, the town has a cool climate and pleasant weather, making it a popular escape from the heat of the plains. Yet these same climatic conditions also attracted Unilever, which set up a thermometer factory in the town. How the plant was shifted from the USA to Kodaikanal, and how it damaged the fragile ecosystem, is a disturbing story. In Heavy Metal : How a Global Corporation Poisoned Kodaikanal, Ameer Shahul presents the full history of this issue.

Shahul writes the book in a multidimensional way, helping readers understand the deeper intrigues behind this disaster. Gathering an impressive amount of data, he not only explains how the thermometer factory polluted the hills, but also examines why the factory came to India. He informs us of  the legal battle that ensued when the mercury pollution became public knowledge. To convey the seriousness of mercury poisoning, he also discusses the Minamata disaster in detail.

Shahul describes how Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring raised public awareness and pressured the US government to take stronger actions against pollution, as well as the role of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He explains why Chesebrough-Pond’s shifted the plant from Watertown in the USA to Kodaikanal,  tracing the history and evolution of Chesebrough and Pond’s, the merger of these companies, and the global reach of their products. In parallel, he discusses policy changes in India, M.G. Ramachandran’s victory in the 1977 Tamil Nadu state elections, how his government’s policies helped establish the factory, the location and surroundings of the site, including the Pambar Shola and its flora and fauna. Shahul describes where the plant was located and permitted to operate and how production began in 1983. Because elemental mercury evaporates, releasing toxic odorless vapours above 24 degrees Celsius,  Kodaikanal’s cool climate made it an attractive location for the factory.

Everything appeared proper and organized after the factory was established and began operating. Unfortunately, this perception continued for the next 17 years, until Navroz Mody, an activist with the Palni Hills Conservation Council,  discovered piles of broken thermometers containing mercury at a scrap dealer’s premises in Moonjikal, Kodaikanal. During this period, there was little awareness of why some workers developed serious health problems or why some had died.

Shahul compellingly narrates how Mody and his friend Nityanand Jayaraman, and some of the PHCC staff, approached the scrap dealer and brought the pollution outbreak to public attention. He recounts the events of 28 March 2001, the first protest against the factory, the immediate consequences of that protest, the involvement of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), and the formation of the Tamil Nadu Alliance Against Mercury (TAAM). As the news spread across the country and reached the global leadership of Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL), the evidence mounted. HLL admitted its mistake and agreed to clean up the waste at the Moonjikal scrap yard, initially estimated at 5.3 tonnes. However, when the waste was taken back to the factory on 20 June 2001, it weighed about 7.4 tonnes.

Shahul narrates the acquisition of  the company by HLL, and how it later became Hindustan Unilever Limited, and the history of Lever Brothers. He lists the workers who suffered from mercury exposure, those who lost their lives because of the pollution, and the health problems they faced. Although the factory was closed, he details how the company conducted its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) with the help of Dames & Moore, the deviations in that report, and why Mody approached the Indian People’s Tribunal (IPT). Ameer also covers the involvement of Community Health Cell (CHC), Dr. Mohan Isaac from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Justice S.N. Bhargava from IPT, and the subsequent legal battle.

Shahul’s narration continues with  the investigation by Dr. Arunachalam and his fellow scientists from the National Centre for Compositional Characterisation of Materials (NCCCM). The account begins in the spices section of a supermarket in Hyderabad, follows contacts through markets in Chennai, Dindigul, Batlagundu, and Kodaikanal, and ends with the discovery of mercury traces on the lichens of a tree near the factory. Another compelling section describes the reverse journey of polluted soil from the factory premises to Tuticorin harbour and then to Bethlehem Apparatus in Pennsylvania, via New York.

The book also documents the involvement of Greenpeace, the Palni Hills Conservation Council (PHCC), and lawyers such as Vaigai Ramamurthy, who drew in the Directorate General Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes (DGFASLI) under India’s Ministry of Labour. Ameer Shahul discusses the roles of ministers such as Jairam Ramesh from the Ministry of Environment and Forests, and Mallikarjun Kharge from the Ministry of Labour, grounding these accounts in data. He writes about how Sofia Ashraf’s Kodaikanal Won’t campaign video went viral, the response from Paul Polman, then CEO of Unilever Plc, and how the fight against the corporation ultimately ended in a settlement.

The book is a good read for people who are concerned about the Palani hills and other fragile regions of the western Ghats. It is also must for those who are interested in understanding how corporate greed and politics can come together to sideline environmental and human health concerns, and how they get away!

 *Published in Leaf litter, Summer Equinox issue - September 2026 - © Satheesh Muthu Gopal