“Beyond this, pollution will not be accepted,” Collector Ajay Yadav told leather industries on referring to the environment pollution and adverse pollution of ground water table in Vellore district. While recognising the steps being taken by the leather industry to prevent environment pollution, he said, “I would like to be very forthright in telling you that as of now it looks like the leather industry in Vellore has taken out a war against environment pollution but let me also put the fact ahead that this awakening has been a little late.” He said he has extended support for the industry but it was his duty to point out that the ground water table has already been greatly damaged. Mr. Yadav was speaking at the inaugural function of the Ambur Open 3 – an exhibition of finished leather, accessories, components, technology and machinery on Wednesday. Referring to earlier speakers that the leather industry was in a crisis, he said, “All industries are in a crisis. There are global issues which have caused this and domestic issues which are plaguing the growth of leather industries.” Reflecting on the domestic part of the problem, he said there were two issues - environment and power. On environment pollution, the Collector said, “There were larger issues why it happened – it was because of overexploitation of ground water. If there had been continuous flow of water in the rivers, this situation will not have emerged. There are ecological causes why the flow has stopped in rivers the way they used to when the industry grew.” Factory based system has come, the demand has become global and exploitation has become heavy on one side and on the other side ecological issue has forced the industries to heavily depend on ground water, he said. For sustainability, leather industry in Vellore has to handle this domestic constraint and it should be part of the cost calculation, he stated. He noted now, there were consistent efforts in terms of financial investment to prevent environment pollution. Regarding the power scenario, he said the State government was taking steps to solve the power crisis as early as possible. “Huge amount of power is required for not only running the leather factories but also the Common Effluent Treatment plants (CETP),” he said. On alternative sources of power in these plants, he noted, “The district administration will support if industries come forward with any kind of hybrid power or idea for sustainable power. You should become self-reliant in production of power,” he stated. He assured support to solve the two domestic constraints. Speaking on the occasion, Chairman for Council for Leather Exports M. Rafeeque Ahmed said for the year ending March 2012, the growth rate of leather industries in the country was 32 per cent. They expected a growth rate of 20 per cent for this year. Member of Legislative Assembly-Ambur A. Aslam Basha said small and micro industries functioning here could be helped in starting units at the proposed industrial estate at Minnur near Ambur. President of Indian Shoe Federation K.R. Vijayan also spoke on the occasion.