They were found to be discharging effluents into waterways The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board demolished 11 unauthorised textile processing units, here, on Monday. The units, located in Surampatti dam, Kasipalayam, Kollampalayam and Choolai areas, were found pumping huge amount of untreated, toxic effluents into the waterways, causing irreversible damage to the environment, officials from the board said. The workers, deployed by the board, demolished the concrete structures in the units using an earth mover and dismantled the machineries. Legal action would be initiated against the promoters of the units and those who rented their lands for establishing them, officials said. “We have demolished more than 190 unapproved textile processing units since January this year. The drive against the polluting industrial units in the district will continue,” District Environmental Engineering G. Gopalakrishnan said. The farming community in the district, however, said the board should not stop with the demolition of the eleven polluting units. “There are hundreds of illegal units functioning across the district that cause huge damage to the environment and agriculture,” said District Secretary of Tamil Nadu Farmers’ Association T. Subbu. The district has become a safe heaven for the illegal dyeing units after the closure of several textile processing units in Tirupur. “The unauthorised units are the major contributors to the increasing pollution levels in the district. These units do not have any equipment to treat the effluents. So they dump thousands of gallons of toxic effluents in the water carrying channels including the Kalingarayan Canal and Lower Bhavani Project canal, which help farmers irrigate more than 2.5 lakh hectares in Erode and neighbouring districts,” Kalingarayan Pasana Sabhai president V.M. Velayudham said. “Earlier, dyeing units were established in Erode, Bhavani and Perundurai blocks. Now, Gobichettipalayam and Anthiyur blocks too have textile processing units. If the board did not close all the polluting industrial units, it would be difficult to save the district's agriculture sector,” Mr. Subbu said. Officials in the board, however, promised that they would intensify the vigil and shut down all the illegal units. “We will close the approved units too, if they are found violating the rules,” Mr. Gopalakrishnan said.