Tamil Nadu - Vellore   

Leather industry should realise its responsibility, says Collector

Special Correspondent

Tanners told to give back something to society

VELLORE: The leather industry should contribute substantially to the development of towns in which the industry is located and to the welfare of the society, Vellore Collector Dharmendra Pratap Yadav said here on Thursday.

Inaugurating a sectoral seminar on "Leather Industries in Vellore District" organised by the District Industries Centre (DIC), Vellore, the Collector said that the leather industry in the district did not seem to be bothered about the fact that the towns in which the tanneries had been located — and the tanneries themselves were not clean — , while the tanners lived in beautiful bungalows.

"Let us not live in islands of prosperity surrounded by filth and dirt. While you reap benefits from the society, you should give back something to it," he noted.

Referring to the problem of tannery pollution, Mr. Yadav said that the leather industry has to take the responsibility for the general degradation of the environment. While the industry was demanding Government subsidy for treating the effluents, it was doubtful if the pollution problem could be tackled by Government subsidy alone.

"In many places, the total dissolved solids (TDS) has exceeded 17,000 parts per million (PPM). As per the Supreme Court directions, the tanneries would have to establish reverse osmosis plants to treat the effluents before the end of September 2007," he said.

V. Ramasubbu, general manager, DIC, pointed out that out of the nine proposals for cluster development under the Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Scheme (IIUS) in the district, the Government of India has sanctioned a proposal for the development of a leather cluster in Ambur and Vaniyambadi at an estimated cost of Rs.67.40 crore.

Recycling plants

The project, implemented by the Ambur Economic Development Organisation Limited (AEDOL), included establishment of wastewater recycling plants (reverse osmosis plants), sludge disposal facilities, road improvement, common facility centre having testing facilities, product display centres, conference facility and cafeteria.

Syed Nisar Ahmed of Vaniyambadi urged the State Government to provide a five-year tax waiver to the domestic industry just as it gave the waiver to the industries set up by the multi-national corporations. Replying to this point, Mr. Ramasubbu said that a proposal for revival of the capital subsidy scheme for backward taluks was under the consideration.

Lead Bank Manager of Indian Bank A. Raghunathan noted that under the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust Scheme (CGFTS), the Centre had provided 75 per cent guarantee to entrepreneurs who were unable to provide collatral security for units with an investment of up to Rs.25 lakh.

K. Nagarajan, District Coordinator, State Bank of India, said that SBI's branches in Ambur and Vaniyambadi had been asked to implement the CGFTS. Y.G. Milton, Assistant General Manager, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, appealed to tanners to develop the leather industry without polluting the environment.

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