Around 6,000 persons from various segments of society submitted a memorandum to the Collector, C. Samayamoorthy, on Wednesday, seeking intervention of the government to solve the crisis faced in the apparel industry following the closure of dyeing units by a court order. People from among the dyeing unit owners and their family and political parties first gathered on the Corporation Town hall premises in protest against the prevailing situation in the Tirupur knitwear cluster before moving to the Collectorate.
Their demand seeking permission to march to Collectorate was denied by the police, who allowed only select representatives to meet the Collector. Rajathi Santhanakrishnan, president of ‘Save Tirupur' Women's Forum, who led the masses while submitting the representation to the Collector, told The Hindu that the government should take over the operation of the Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) so as to help the industry comply with the pollution control norms pertaining to the discharge of industrial effluents. The agitators further wanted the government to come out with steps for immediate reopening of the dyeing units. They blamed Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board for the fiasco.The Collector assured the petitioners that their memorandum would be forwarded to the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and other authorities concerned.
The district administration clarified to the dyeing fraternity that no steps for reopening the dyeing units could be taken at the district level since the matter is sub judice.
The traffic in the city was disrupted for many hours owing to the crowd gathering in front of the Corporation Town Hall.
