While acknowledging that the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Petitions Committee has received several pleas from public belonging to Karur, Erode and Tirupur for taking effective measures to stop discharge of industrial effluents into rivers in the region, the Committee Chairman and Valparai MLA Kovai Thangam said the panel has already taken up the issue with the State Government.
During his media briefing of the Committee's review of the petitions received in Karur on Friday, Mr. Thangam said the State Government was seized of the issue and has prepared a plan estimated at Rs. 600 crore to take “the treated water to be let into the seas''.
The Congress MLA said the Central Government too was contributing Rs. 200 crore for the project, which he claimed would put an end to the effluent menace in the region.
Farmers affected
Accepting that pollution through discharge of effluents into water sources was a major problem that has affected the farmers and public in the three districts, Mr. Thangam said several people had submitted petitions to the Committee during its tour of Erode, Tirupur and Karur. Mr.Thangam said the Committee would present its view to the State Government on the issue.
“We have urged the Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi and Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to find means to end the menace,'' he said.
Asked whether the panel had visited any of the pollution-affected areas in Karur district during its trip the Committee chairman replied in the negative.
Going further he said that the Congress MLA from Kangeyam detailed the hardship caused to people due to the industrial pollution taking a toll on rivers Noyyal, Amaravathy and Cauvery.
On others issues, the Chairman said the Committee had received a total of 186 petitions from various quarters in the Karur district and recommended action on 163 of them.
The panel discussed 51 of those issues during the review meeting on Friday besides eight pending petitions that needed to be carried over to the current review.
CT scan installation
The Committee would recommend installation of CT-scan equipment at the Government Hospital here, besides directing construction of bathrooms and toilets at the Adi Dravidar Welfare Hostel for Girls in Karur, he added.
Other members of the Petitions Committee including S. Pushparaj, V. Kannan, N. Subramanian and K. Nedunchezhian participated in the deliberations. Assembly secretariat deputy secretary G. Gayathri, and other officials accompanied the team during their visit.
District Collector J. Uma Maheswari, District Revenue Officer C.Munirathinam, MLAs P.Kamaraj, R.Manikkam and senior officials from various departments participated in the meeting.
