Lack of action from TNPCB encouraged industrial units to dump effluents Officials are making tall claims that they have controlled pollution levels in the district. But the water carrying channels here tell a different, shocking story. The Kalingarayan canal, lifeline of more than 30,000 farmers in the district, carried huge amount of light blue colour liquid near Karungalpalayam and the area was enveloped in an acrid smell. In Bhavani and most other places, the colour of the water was dark green and in a few places, the canal carried dark red-coloured water. The most interesting fact is that the canal carries “water” despite the public works department suspending the water release several weeks ago. “What is flowing in the canal these days is the untreated, toxic effluents released by the textile processing and tannery units, both approved and unapproved ones,” alleges S. Mariappan, a farmer in Bhavani. Kalingarayan ayacut has more than 15,000 acres and the farmers have taken up paddy, sugarcane, turmeric, banana and a number of other crops. A significant number of farmers grow vegetables for which they depend on the water from the canal. “Vegetables cultivated using the water that has toxic effluents are sold to hundreds of residents in Erode. It is not just the farmers who are getting affected due to rising pollution levels. Hundreds of people are exposed to serious health risks because of a few erring textile processing and tannery industries,” charges Sankara Narayanan, a businessman here. Officials in the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) claimed that they had demolished more than 100 illegal textile processing units till date. “We are doing our best to identify the illegal units that are polluting the waterways. We are also monitoring the approved textile processing and tannery units,” says District Environment Engineer G. Gopalakrishnan. Many farmers, however, alleged that the lack of effective action from the TNPCB encouraged the industrial units to continue to dump huge amount of untreated effluents in waterways and vacant lands. “If someone mixes a toxic substance in a public water tank, police register a criminal case. If the industrial units dump thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals in the water carrying channels, no action is being taken against their managements. It is unfair. The government should initiate stern action against the managements of polluting industries,” demands District Secretary of Tamil Nadu Farmers Association T. Subbu.