Collector C. Rajendran has directed officials of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) to immediately visit the places in the Ambur area where there were complaints of tanneries discharging untreated effluents into the Palar, and identify and close such tanneries.
He was presiding over a monthly agriculturists' grievance day meeting at the Collectorate here on Friday.
Farmers in the Ambur area had complained that some tanneries were discharging untreated effluents into the Palar on the sly, contaminating groundwater and affecting health of residents.
Mr. Rajendran regretted that the TNPCB had not taken any action on such complaints. “Inspect the places immediately and send me a report. If the tanneries fail to comply with the Supreme Court order not to discharge untreated effluents into the river, close them,” Mr. Rajendran told a TNPCB official who attended the meeting.
A farmer from Somalapuram near Ambur said that tanneries directly discharged untreated effluents into the Palar. The coconut crop in the Ambur area had been destroyed owing to stagnation of effluent sludge, another farmer from the area said.
V.R. Ramasamy, a farmer from Vadachery and president of the Vellore District Environment Monitoring Committee, said that during rains, the tanks containing raw effluents in tanneries overflowed into the Palar. When the TNPCB was talking of reverse osmosis and zero discharge of effluents, it should not allow discharge of effluents into the river.
Repeated representations made to the Collector at grievance meetings and through the Press did not have any effect, he said.
Replying to a suggestion on constructing retaining walls along the banks of the Palar to prevent discharge of effluents into the river, the Executive Engineer, Water Resources Organisation, Public Works Department, in a letter dated January 20, 2004, said that walls would be constructed based on financial allocation. However, no step had been taken in this direction so far, Mr. Ramasamy said.
When farmers of Erode district complained to Law Minister Durai Murugan about the pollution caused by textile dyeing units discharging toxic effluents into the Cauvery and Noyyal, the Minister had said that criminal action would be taken against the owners of such units.
The Minister should ensure that similar action is taken against tanners in Vellore district that discharged toxic effluents into the Palar, he said.
Murugesan, a farmer of Pallikonda, called for severe action against tanneries which caused deaths of workers owing to negligence, when they were engaged in cleaning effluent tanks in tanneries. “The toxicity of the effluents has resulted in the death of five workers who were engaged in cleaning a tank in Vaniyambadi recently. Imagine the plight of those who consume groundwater polluted by toxic effluents discharged by the tanneries,” he said.
