Concerns over effectiveness and feasibility of a marine discharge project, which is being projected by a certain section of industrialists as a permanent solution for the effluent discharge problem in dyeing industry, are mounting following reports of failure of similar system in Gujarat.
Reports
“The recent reports with pictures like the one appeared in Frontline (dated May 20) under the heading ‘Stink of Development' highlighted how effluents from Nandeswari Industrial Estate in Vadodhara were sent untreated to sea and a major chunk of them found its way to agriculture fields en route due to frequent bursting and poor maintenance of pipelines,” P. Sankaranarayanan, an environmental activist , told The Hindu .
According to the report, many acres of vegetable fields as well as underground water have been affected in the areas where the pipeline passed.
Interestingly, marine discharge project in Gujarat was projected by the industrialists who vouch for a similar project in Tirupur, as example to drive home their point without even understanding the real situation there, Mr. Sankaranarayanan said.
Mr. Sankaranarayanan had written to the Chief Secretary and Ministries concerned in Tamil Nadu on Monday requesting them not to go ahead in taking a clear-cut risk in the form of marine discharge project at a time when many dyeing units in Tirupur had already proved that zero liquid discharge (ZLD) systems is a possible entity.
According to Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board sources, four dyeing units like Poppy Arts had recommenced their operations recently after installing the ZLD system. In addition to it, over 60 Individual Effluent Treatment Plants (IETPs) and 17 Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETP) like Arulpuram CETP, had already submitted proposal to the Board for its reopening stating that the units were ready with the zero discharge systems, Board sources added. A. P. Kandasamy, president of Noyyal River Ayacutdars Protection Association, on whose contempt petitions Madras High Court ordered closure of dyeing units, said that if four IETPs could get the nod for reopening with the ZLD system in place and many more to be opened shortly, why cannot everyone follow the ZLD system instead of thinking about other alternatives.
“In the current scenario, it will be suicidal to go for an uncertain system like marine discharge system especially in a cluster like Tirupur from where pipelines need to be laid for about 400 km considering the enormous problems encountered even for a few kilometres-long pipeline network in Gujarat,” Tirupur Groundwater Protection Committee president K. Vanchipalayam Durai said.
