Claiming that at least five mineral water bottling units located at the ecologically fragile Western Ghats region in Coimbatore were causing environmental hazards in the region, a public interest writ petition has been filed in the Madras high court to close down the units.
The first bench comprising chief justice M Yusuf Eqbal and justice TS Sivagnanam has ordered notices to the district collector of Coimbatore, Mathvarayapuram panchayat union and the five mineral water companies.
The PIL, filed by Aruchamy, president of Thondamuthur unit of the Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam, contended that the village was very close to the Siruvani foothills as well as the western ghats, and that the water units were drawing huge quantity of water for commercial purposes.
Aruchamy said the local population in the area was about eight lakh and over 850 families were engaged in farming in about 700 acres. Drawing out several thousand litres of water for commercial purposes would have an adverse impact on the ground water table, affecting irrigation and drinking water requirements.
Not just people, even wild animals in the region are hit by the companies as their water sources too dry up fast due to excessive utilisation of water for commercial purposes, he said.
With water sources drying up, even the Noyyal river, which always had copious water flow, had dwindled nowadays, the petitioner said, adding that it would affect another 20,000 farmers.
Accusing the civic and revenue authorities of having allowed such industries in an environmentally fragile regions, the petitioner said that unless the companies were not restrained from indiscriminate exploitation of water sources for commercial purposes drinking and irrigation water needs of people will be hit, he said.
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