Tamil Nadu - Salem   

Pollution Control Board turns a blind eye to discharge of untreated effluent water

SALEM: The discharge of untreated effluent water from a few sago factories in the surplus channel of Panamarathupatti Lake, a major water spread in the district and the main supplier of drinking water to Salem city once, is causing a serious concern to environmentalists.

Fearing pollution in the groundwater in the locality, a few have even damaged the check dam so that the stagnated polluted water could seep through. The practice of letting the untreated water has led to the contamination of water in over 100 wells at Attuputhur, Thippampatti, Perangadu and surrounding villages. The colour of the water is slowly turning into greenish black in many wells in the area, depriving the people in several villages of access to safe drinking water.

Farmers also allege that the use of chemicals at these sago factories has severely affected the soil and groundwater resources. The check dam constructed across the channel, which carries the surplus water from the Panamarathupatti Lake to Ammapalayam Lake near Mallur, has aggravated the problem. The waste water gets stored in the check dam. As a result, it percolates into the earth, contaminating the nearby wells.

“We have repeatedly requested the managements of the factories to stop discharging waste water in the channel.

But our pleas fell on deaf ears,” farmers charge. The negative effects on the environment are already visible. “The yield of many crops including tapioca and maize, has come down drastically,” farmers point out. “If the situation continues, we will not be able to continue the farming in the area,” they say.

Officials at the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board have also turned a blind eye over the issue, despite repeated representations from the farmers. The factories are allowed to function without establishing water treatment plants, farmers allege.

They urge the district administration to take up immediate measures to make the industries stop discharging their waste.

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