Tripartite talks on Tirupur textile pollution issue

The new AIADMK-led government headed by Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa in the Tamil Nadu will hold tripartite discussions to resolve the issues facing the Tirupur dyeing industry.

The State government will invite representatives of the Rs. 120 billion Tirupur textile industry and the farming community for discussions.

It may be recalled that in January 2011, the Madras High Court had directed the textile and dyeing units in Tirupur to be closed down as they were found to be polluting the Noyyal River.

The directive of the High Court had come in the wake of a petition filed by non-government organizations (NGOs) and farmers of the area.

As per the High Court directive, the dyeing units can function only when they achieve zero liquid discharge. This has severely affected the units in Tirupur which produces most of the country’s knitwear.

சுத்திகரிப்பு ஆலைகளை அரசே ஏற்று நடத்த வேண்டும்

பல ஆண்டுகளாக, பலமுறை வாய்ப்பு வழங்கப்பட்டும் முறையான சுத்திகரிப்பு முறைகளை சாயப்பட்டறை அதிபர்கள் ஏற்படுத்தவில்லை. இத்தனை ஆண்டுகளாக நொய்யல்லாற்றில் கலக்கப்பட்ட கழிவுகளால் நிலம், கால்நடைகள், சுற்றுச்ச்சுழல் என அனைத்தும் பாதிக்கப்பட்டிருக்கிறது. அந்தப் பகுதிகளில் அறுநூற்றுக்கும் மேற்பட்டோர் புற்று நோயால் பாதிக்கப்பட்டிருக்கின்றனர். இந்த பாதிப்புகளுக்கும் இழப்புகளுக்கும் யார் பொறுப்பு? இவ்வளவு நாளாக கழிவுகளை ஆறுகளில் கொட்டி லாபத்தை பைகளில் திணித்துக்கொண்டவர்கள், இன்று சுத்தீகரிப்பு செலவுகளை ஏற்க மறுத்து ஆலைகளை அடைத்து, தொழிலாளர்கள் வயிற்றிலடிக்கிறார்கள்.

இப்போது, சாயப்பட்டறைகள் நீதிமன்ற உத்தரவினால் அடைக்கப்பட்டதால் தொழிலாளர்கள் பாதிக்கப்படுவதாக ஓலமிடுபவர்கள், இதே ஆலைகளில் ஊதிய உயர்வு கோரி வேலை நிறுத்தம் செய்தால் அப்போதும் தொழிலாளர்கள் நலம் பேசுவார்களா?

சாயக்கழிவுகளால் பனியன் தொழிலும் பாதிக்கப்படக்கூடாது என்பது தான் அனைவரின் எதிர்பார்ப்பு. அதற்கு தொழில் வளர்ச்சியோடு, சுற்றுச்சூழலையும் காத்தல் மட்டுமே தீர்வு.

தேதி குறிப்பிட்டு சுத்திகரிப்பு முறைகளை ஏற்படுத்த ஆணையிட வேண்டும், தவறினால், ஆலைகளை அரசே ஏற்று நடத்த வேண்டும்.

Knitwear exports from Tirupur register growth

Knitwear exports from Tirupur cluster have registered growth during the just-concluded 2010-11 fiscal despite the textile hub being beset by a plethora of problems including raw material price hike and closure of dyeing units by a court order for violating pollution control norms.

The statistics disclosed by Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA) president Arumugam Sakthivel states that exports from Tirupur knitwear cluster had leapfrogged from Rs. 11,800 crore in 2009-10 to Rs. 12,500 crore in 2010-11 financial year.

On the crisis experienced in the dyeing sector, Mr. Sakthivel said that steps were being taken to expedite the compliance of zero liquid discharge (ZLD) norms stipulated for the effluent treatment process. “About Rs. 1,200 crore have been invested so far into the setting up of Common Effluent Treatment Plants and Individual Effluent Treatment Plants in the cluster, in an attempt to prevent any further discharge of effluents into River Noyyal,” he added.

Mr. Sakthivel was all praise for the eco-green industrial evaporator developed by NIFT-TEA College of Knitwear Fashion which had come as a feasible solution for attaining the ZLD in the effluent treatment process.

The eco-green evaporator was developed by the research team of NIFT-TEA institute led by its chairman Raja M. Shanmugam and comprising technocrats and industrial stakeholders as well as officials from Textiles Committee under the Union Government on an advisory role, as members. “We will make sure that the gadget get popularised among the dyeing unit owners and also obtain the necessary approval for its operations from Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board,” Mr.Sakthivel said.

He said that the marine discharge project was seen only as a long term solution for disposal of treated industrial effluents.

Human fury over Kovai lakes

Coimbatore is gifted with a unique spread of a dozen natural water bodies that store rain water, recharge groundwater and provide cozy shelters for thousands of birds and fishes. It is an irony that although Coimbatore today has emerged as the most prosperous city in Tamil Nadu, its unique lakes are dying. Worse, they have turned into stinking ditches and dump yards.

The water levels in the lakes have gone down by about 100 cubic feet. Precisely, they have dipped from 300 cubic feet to 200 cubic feet, say green activists. If the lakes' water table goes down, the city's ground water table too would dip. Ecologists fear that the painted storks, pelicans and other migratory birds may just stop coming to city lakes.

Israeli expert hails HC ruling on dyeing units

COIMBATORE: The recent Madras high court verdict ordering the closure of all dyeing units in Tirupur in an attempt to protect the dying Noyyal river will inspire movements across the world for protection of rivers and water bodies for future generations, said Dr Yoram Oren of Ben-Gurion University in Israel.

An internationally renowned water expert, Yoram was in Coimbatore on Tuesday to address a seminar on water management strategies organised by Karunya University. An expert on desalination and reverse osmosis, it is the second time that Yoram is in the city. During his first visit, he stayed at the university for four months, and helped set up a unique elctro-chemical water lab at the water institute, which, according to Yoram, can purify even the most contaminated water. A passionate advocate of water rights, Yoram visited Tirupur before reaching Coimbatore and interacted with people living on the shores of Noyyal river.

Dyeing units petition dismissed

The Madras High Court on Tuesday dismissed with a cost of Rs.15,000 a petition filed by the Tirupur Dyeing Factory Owners Association, which among other things, sought nine months to achieve 100 per cent zero liquid discharge and consequently permit the opening of bleaching and dyeing units.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice M.Y. Eqbal and Justice T.S. Sivagnanam also dismissed another plea from four trade unions, to permit dyeing and bleaching units to run with water from the New Tirupur Area Development Corporation to dilute discharge and reducing the total dissolved solids level.

Pointing to its earlier order dated January 28, 2011, passed in a contempt application filed by Noyyal River Ayuacutdars Protection Association, the bench said the petitioner, who was the fifth contemnor, was bound by the order.

“The petition attempts to seek a review of the order,” it said. “We do not appreciate the manner adopted by the petitioner, with a view to dilute the effect of our order January 28.”

Go green now: RK Pachauri

COIMBATORE: Nobel laureate Rajendra K Pachauri on Wednesday said that the cotton city needs to be "greened more than any other parts of the world". If greenery initiatives are not taken up, the Coimbatore region could become a desert soon, he cautioned. The Nobel laureate was in the city on Friday to address a gathering of green activists at the CODISSIA Trade Fair Complex. Dr Pachauri bemoaned the drying up of the Noyyal river and called this a major loss to the region.