It was a project announced by the Central Government in 2009 to honour former Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai on his birth anniversary at his home town of Kancheepuram. However, six years later, there has been no progress on the Peraringnar Anna Handloom Silk Park (PAHSP).
The delay in acquiring land and environment clearance has stalled the project and the Handloom Silk Cooperative Societies has not taken interest in expediting the project - conceived and announced by the Ministry of Textiles, sources in the Silk Park told The Hindu.
The PAHSP Limited was floated as public private partnership project with a small group of select master weavers as its founder members. A special purpose vehicle was also being formed to implement the Rs.83.35 crore Park and in 2012 the State government released Rs.7.54 crore as its share in for buying 75 acres of land at Kizhkathirpur village.
In 2013, according to the PAHSP sources, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board insisted that cotton-dyeing units functioning in Kancheepuram town should also be taken into the fold of the Park. Initially, it was decided to establish a common zero-discharge effluent treatment plant at the Park for colouring raw silk threads and with the inclusion of cotton dyeing units, a modification in the ETP model was necessary. The new condition prolonged the process of obtaining environmental clearance from both State and Central governments and this has remained pending for till now.
Moreover, the sources said, the process of land acquisition and change in ownership took more than two-and-half years and was completed only recently. Under such circumstances, the Park’s promoters have decided not to take up any activity until the project receives environmental clearance.
