Times of India: Madurai: Sunday,
March 30, 2014.
Power supply
was cut off to six dyeing units in Chinnalapatti in Dindigul district that were
functioning without clearance from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board
(TNPCB). Meanwhile, the Chinnalapatti town panchayat has proposed to issue
notices to many more illegal dyeing units in its limits.
The weaving
town of the famous 'Sungudi' saris is reeling under the menace of unauthorised
dyeing units which have multiplied several fold in the last few years. Their
effluents, which are left untreated, have been rendering the ground water in
the region non-usable resulting in the residents trying to prevent further
damage at any cost.
D Durairaj,
secretary of the consumer protection trust in Chinnalapatti filed an RTI after
they were unable to know the status of the results of the water samples sent by
the town panchayat to the TWAD board a few months ago. The RTI reply showed
that water in 19 out of the 25 borewells collected at random, were not suitable
for any use and that the remaining six were fast reaching that stage.
In order to
alert the people on the consequences, college students led by Durairaj
conducted a door-to-door campaign in many parts of Chinnalapatti asking the
residents to abstain from using this water. The Sungudi saris, which are the
most-suited for summer were initially dyed using natural dyes, but as the
demand went up from 2,000 per day to 20,000, chemical dyes were brought in and
many failed to comply with the rules and set up effluent treatment plants.
Under these
circumstances, power supply to six units were suspended by the town panchayat
following the recommendations by the TNPCB. A team of officials including the
district environmental engineer K Elankumaran and from the town panchayat
visited the spot.
During an
earlier inspection the authorities had asked all the units to set up effluent
treatment plants with a reverse osmosis system. But, only few had complied.
Now, again action is being initiated against the erring units. Also, it has
been detected that some people have set up their own plants without any
approval of the local body and notices are to be issued to them soon, according
to the town panchayat executive officer Kottaisamy.
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