Residents demand closure of ‘chemical unit’

Krishnapuram residents with bottles containing polluted water at the Collectorate in Ramanathapuram on Monday.

A section of the residents of Krishnapuram thronged the Collectorate here on Monday, carrying bottles containing polluted water and demanding closure of a ‘chemical unit’, functioning as a desalination plant in the village for more than 10 years.

M. Karunamurthy, district secretary of the CITU- affiliated Tamil Nadu Meenpidi Thozhirsanga Koottamaippu, who led the villagers, said that ever since South Ganga Water Technology Limited set up the ‘desalination plant’ in 2005, the groundwater in and around the village began to be polluted.

He said that after the company started storing the ‘effluents’ in the common water tank used by the villagers for their water needs, it became unusable. Soon, seawater in the area turned yellow, and fish and other marine resources were destroyed, he said.

Consumption of the polluted water also caused serious health problems to the local people, he said, and alleged that a 16-year-old class X student and one Murugan (27), who got married recently, died of some illness recently.

Presently, a 14-year-old school student and one Panneerselvam (27) were undergoing treatment in private hospitals for kidney ailments, he said, and demanded the immediate closure of the factory.

The villagers said that the plant was established to supply water to the power plant at Vazhuthur, but the release of effluents from the plant was intriguing. A desalination plant was functioning at Naripaiyur but the people had no health issues there, they said.

Urging the district administration to order the closure of the plant, Mr. Karunamurthy appealed to the government to grant compensation to the families of the two deceased and bear the treatment cost of the two persons undergoing treatment.

The government should also subject the villagers to a medical examination, he stressed.