The Tirupur Exporters and Manufacturers Association has filed a writ petition in the Madras High Court seeking a direction to Union and State governments to jointly consider its representation made last month on treatment of effluents by dyeing and bleaching units at Tirupur.
Association president M.P. Muthurathinam submitted that following the High Court decision of January 28, in which stringent directions were issued, the dyeing and bleaching units were closed. As a result, exporters have been affected.
The association's general body meeting adopted 11 resolutions on February 3 to make a representation to the State Pollution Control Board and to State and Central governments for evolving a permanent solution so that environmental protection laws are safeguarded and their interests protected.
The association said that on February 7 a representation was made to the pollution control board to invoke the powers contemplated under Section 17 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act and advise the government to be directly involved for regularisation and prevention of water pollution by effective reverse osmosis treatment to achieve Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) level.
The VAPI Waste and Effluent Management Company Ltd. in Gujarat, with the board of directors from the government, had evolved a Comprehensive Environment Management Programme wherein a common effluent treatment plant was set up to clean industrial waste. It has succeeded in the venture.
Also, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has undertaken the work of treatment of waste water directly under its control and shown results in keeping the environment clean. In Tirupur, the pollution control board was acting only as a monitoring body. The independent units, which had set up the effluent treatment plants, were not able to discharge industrial waste as expected.The petitioner said there was a need to evolve a complete solution. The association prayed the court to direct the State and Central governments to jointly consider the association's representation in accordance with the Water Act and in the light of steps taken by Gujarat and the MPCB for effective treatment of effluents.A Division Bench, comprising Justices Elipe Dharma Rao and D. Hariparanthaman adjourned the case to March 7.
