Effluent treatment plants in Tirupur ordered closed

The Madras High Court on Friday ordered the closure of all Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) and bleaching and dyeing units in Tirupur area immediately by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board. Electricity supply should also be disconnected.

Passing a series of directions on contempt petitions, the First Bench comprising Chief Justice M.Y.Eqbal and Justice T.S.Sivagnanam, in its interim order, said such CETPs/Integrated Effluent Treatment Plants (IETPs)/Units should not be permitted to operate unless they achieved zero liquid discharge (ZLD) as per the court directions in 2006.

All CETPs, IETPs and units should be individually inspected by an officers' team nominated by the TNPCB along with the members of the monitoring committee and a detailed report should be prepared individually for each treatment plant and unit.

The report should be the sole basis to assess whether the CETPs/IETPs/units should be permitted to commence operations.

“If the CETPs/IETPs/units are deficient or have not achieved the required parameters, they shall not operate and be directed to rectify the deficiencies and report to the Pollution Control Board for fresh inspection by the team of officers of the board and the monitoring committee.”

The Noyyal River Ayacutdars Protection Association, represented by its president, A.P.Kandasamy, filed the petitions against PWD and TNPCB authorities alleging wilful disobedience of the court orders and directions. Its grievance was against bleaching and dyeing units of the Tirupur area as due to their indiscriminate discharge of trade effluents into the Noyyal, the river was polluted. The association complained that nothing had been done after the Supreme Court upheld a Division Bench's decision. The pollution had increased.

The TNPCB submitted it had formed five inspection teams consisting of three members each and 10 teams comprising two members each to carry out the court directions of April last year. On inspection, the board found there were violations. Hence, show cause notices were issued to 300 units. Despite such notices, 286 units continued to violate the directions. Hence, closure orders were issued against them.

The Bench observed, “If as stated by the board there had been periodic monitoring and constant vigilance, the violations committed by these units would have come to light much earlier. Thus, prima facie, we are of the view that there has been dormancy/lethargy on the part of officials in implementing the directions of the High Court even after the disposal of the appeal by the Supreme Court in October 2009.”

If the board had issued consent to operate the CETPs, merely on the establishment of the machinery for achieving ZLD, it amounted to violation of the court orders.

The TNPCB should initiate criminal prosecution against such CETPs/Integrated Effluent Treatment Plants (IETPs) and units which had flouted the court orders and the board's conditions, continued to cause pollution and failed to rectify the defects despite the board's show cause notice.

Going a step further, the Bench said the board should furnish the list of names of the board officers during the relevant time when the treatment plants and units failed to comply with the court orders and the board's directions so that appropriate action may be taken against them.

It was a matter of great concern that in spite of the court's specific direction, the units continued discharging effluents and did not achieve zero liquid discharge. At the same time, the Pollution Control Board failed to close the units. Only after the matter was taken up by the High Court, did the board close some units.

“Report shocking”

The river water samples collected in October last year were sent to the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) for analysis. The institute's report was alarming and shocking. In one sample, the total dissolved solids (TDS) was 5,660.

The acceptable standard for drinking water was 500. This was a prima facie indication that pollution in the river had not stopped. The matter has been posted for March 21.

Fisheries Loss in Orathapalayam Reservoir

Immediately after the completion of the reservoir, the Fisheries Department started fisheries activities at Orathapalayam reservoir in 1993. The fingerlings stock at Orthapalayam reservoir was 385,000 in 1993. But the stock was increased to 700,000 during 1993-94 and 801,000 in 1996-97. But in subsequent years no stocking took place in the reservoir. Towards the end of 1997, mass fish mortality occurred at Orathapalayam reservoir. In early December, dead fish were floating near the dam site, which caused serious health hazards. Subsequently the District Collector made arrangements to bury the dead fish, which came to several tonnes. The Government also ordered the Fisheries Department to make immediate arrangements for removing all the fish in the reservoir to avoid further fish mortality and health hazards. The PWD also requested the Fisheries Department to stop the fisheries activities in Orathapalayam. Subsequently the Director of Fisheries ordered the Regional Fisheries Office at Erode to stop the fisheries at Orathapalayam on 12/3/1998. (Directorate of Fisheries, 2000c).

After realizing the pollution implication on Orthapalayam reservoir the Commissioner of Fisheries conducted a detailed study. The study was conducted by the Hydrology Research Station, Department of Fisheries, Chennai (1996). The salient findings were: (a) River is unfit for aquatic organisms. (b) Fish landing was observed downstream of Tiruppur and Orthapalayam reservoir – Tilapia is the main variety, but size is small. (c) Plankton pollution was observed in huge quantity in reservoir. (d) Bio-assay test conducted revealed that the fishes are bleached. (e) Fish growth rate will be affected. (f) Survival of Tilapia may not be a problem, but present condition is unsuitable for the growth of other carps. (g) Fish caught from the reservoir get spoiled in a short period of two hours. Hence fish cannot be marketed to distant places. (h) High possibility of frequent fish mortality in future. The fisheries activities at Orathapalayam reservoir (which was started by State Fisheries Department with great expectation in 1993) was

completely stopped and continuation is also highly doubtful.

Possible Toxicity in Fishes: At present even though the river, tanks and reservoir are completely affected by textile pollution, some informal fishing is still taking place in the water bodies and the fish caught is sold in the local and neighbouring markets. Generally the inland fishing is extremely important in this area since the possibility of getting sea

fish (Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea are quite far) is low. Even the fish that survive in the Orthapalayam reservoir may be of doubtful quality. According to Azeez, (2001) ”Many dyes commonly used are known to have serious health implications. Azo dyes, which were used widely are banned recently due to harmful properties including carcinogenesis. It is found that many species of fish survive in the Orthapalayam reservoir where all the chemical wastes from Tiruppur get collected. It is quite possible that the fishes accumulate these chemicals and are transferred to human beings while consuming fishes.”

TNPCB closes down 10 dyeing units

Tirupur: The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) on Thursday ordered closure of 10 dyeing units in the Tirupur knitwear cluster which failed to comply with the Supreme Court order pertaining to pollution caused by the dyeing units on River Noyyal.

The power and water supply to these units was also disconnected.

TNPCB District Environmental Engineer R. Kannan told The Hindu that the said 10 dyeing units, which had Individual Effluent Treatment Plants (IETPs) on their premises, had failed to ensure Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) during the treatment of the effluents and hence, the action.

“The units have been found discharging the untreated effluent into River Noyyal,” he said.

The closure orders, according to Mr. Kannan, have been issued under Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. Mr. Kannan said that already a total of 53 units affiliated to Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) remain closed for either failing to remit the fines imposed for polluting River Noyyal or being the members of those CETPs which failed to fit ZLD.

Rs. 200 cr. allotment to dyeing units waste of tax payers' money, say farmers

Tirupur: The clearance given by Parliament to the sanctioning of Rs. 200 crore by the Central Government to offset the project cost incurred for the 20 Common Effluent treatment Plants (CETPs) in Tirupur has been evoking varied response.

The Rs. 200-croreis the partake of Central Government to the Rs. 320 crore allocation promised for the dyeing units who shared the cost of setting up CETPs with the remaining share to be given by the State Government.

Though the industrial associations like Tirupur Exporters Association and Dyers Association of Tirupur had welcomed the decision, farmers' community who faced the brunt of the high pollution in River Noyyal owing to indiscriminate industrial effluent discharge during the last few decades feels that it was a waste of tax payers' money.

“From our past experience, it can be said for sure that any amount distributed to dyers' fraternity will only benefit them to increase their book profits instead of serving the purpose of stopping the industrial effluent discharge into River Noyyal,” Noyyal River Ayacutdars Protection Association (NRAPA) A. P. Kandasamy told The Hindu.

Mr. Kandasamy also referred to the writ petition the Association was forced to file in the Madras High Court after a government study found that Total Dissolved Solids levels in Noyyal had gone up to 5,100 ppm (parts per million) against the permissible limit of 2,100 ppm.

“Remember, this took place despite the Supreme Court directive which asked the dyeing units to ensure zero liquid discharge from January 6 this year and after commissioning the CETPs,” he said. He said that the SC directive came following a 14-year legal battle the Association waged against the dyeing units.K. Duraisamy, president of Tirupur District Groundwater Protection Committee, said that when Supreme Court itself had stated in the verdict in the Public Interest Litigation filed by NRAPA that ‘polluters pay', why then the government allocated grants to the dyeing units.

TN plans Noyyal land retrieval

Chennai, Sept. 4: The textile plants of Tirupur, Erode and Karur in western Tamil Nadu may have earned thousands of crores of rupees in foreign exchange, but their impact on the environment has been equally dismal.

The knitwear hub of Tirupur alone has been using one lakh tonnes of salt a year for dyeing and a study has pointed out that the effluents had affected more than 10,000 acres of fertile land along the Noyyal River.

While the farmers are waging a futile battle to get compensation, the state planning commission has come out with a proposal to reclaim the land by planting saplings of Casuarina, which can withstand high saline content besides going in for natural dye plants such as indigofera tinctoria.

During the recent conference of district collectors chief minister M. Karunanidhi, directed officials to work out the plan with the farmers’ cooperation.

“We have identified 5.5 acre land along the Noyyal River in Kangeyam taluk and will be planting natural dye (indigofera) saplings and casuarinas on a pilot basis,” the Tirupur Collector, Mr C. Samayamoorthy, told DC. The district administration is also planning to set up a natural dye extraction plant since it would not require huge investment or technology. “We are planning to give incentive to the farmers (`5,000 per acre) to take up the cultivation,” the collector added.

Planning commission member and retired IFS officer G. Kumaravelu, who mooted the proposal, said it would help farmers gain more income.

Noyyal river water unfit for human use, shows test

CHENNAI: The Noyyal river water is unfit for human consumption or use, the Madras high court has been told. In a report submitted to the court, the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) has said the pollution level in the water sample collected by the authorities was much above the acceptable standards.

The first bench comprising Chief Justice M Yusuf Eqbal and Justice TS Sivagnanam, before which a contempt of court petition filed with regard to the pollution caused by dyeing and bleaching units came up for hearing on Tuesday, took cognizance of the report and asked the court registry to circulate it to all the parties to the case for eliciting their response.

The judges also asked the authorities to file a detailed affidavit mentioning the dyeing and bleaching units that had been ordered to be closed by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB). The bench then adjourned the matter to November 22 for further hearing.

The Noyyal river, originating in the Vellingiri Hills of the Western Ghats, flows for about 175 km through Coimbatore, Erode and Karur districts before joining the Cauvery river near Noyyal village. Chemical and toxic effluents discharged into the Orathanadu dam by bleaching and dyeing units have affected groundwater in more than 95 villages in the districts of Erode and Karur. There are about 720 dyeing units in the region.

The contempt of court petition was filed by the Noyyal River Ayacutdars Protection Association, which claimed that the high court orders delivered in April 2008 had not been honoured by the authorities. In the petition, the association's president AP Kandasamy submitted that the court had directed the TNPCB to inspect dyeing and bleaching units in and around Tirupur and take steps to remove the excess production machinery with the assistance of the court-appointed monitoring committee.

On October 4, the first bench had deputed an official of the high court to visit the Kasipalayam village in Erode district and collect a water sample from the river. On October 21, the court had asked the authorities to send the sample to the NEERI's Chennai Zonal Lab at CSIR Madras Complex in Tharamani. A report, in a sealed cover, shall be submitted within a week from the date of receipt of water samples in sealed bottles, it said.

The NEERI submitted its report on October 29. When the matter is taken up for further hearing on November 22, the court is expected to analyse the replies of the TNPCB, as also the other stake-holders such as the unit-owners, and pass appropriate orders.

Coimbatore Corporation - water pollution on Noyyal river

The Coimbatore City lies within the watershed expanse of the Noyyal River Basin and consists of a network of tanks and canals. About 18 tanks in the city act as storage and percolation tanks and are major sources of ground water. Canals that act as natural drainage courses, serves as storm water drains for the Coimbatore city.

An analysis of nine water bodies of city by a local NGO indicates that most of the water bodies are contaminated. The discharge of industrial and domestic effluents, encroachments of tank and canal beds, exploitation of ground water are some of the important factors causing damage to these water bodies.

A key factor responsible for polluting the water bodies is the discharge of untreated effluents from small scale industrial units lacking in adequate individual treatment facilities. With major water bodies being polluted, an immediate effect is noticed on the health of the vulnerable communities residing on the banks of the canals and tanks. Further, there is a risk of contamination of ground water, resulting from over exploitation of ground water by
domestic and industrial users.