No positive action taken till date to sort out problem of discharging untreated effluents into water sources While people in the world observing the World Environment Day and discussing measures to protect the Mother Nature on Tuesday, it is business as usual for many textile processing and tannery units in Erode district. A few textile processing and tannery units located in BP Agraharam and its nearby areas dumped huge amount of untreated, toxic effluents in a water carrying channel that flows into Cauvery River. The colour of the water turned black in the channel and the acidic smell emanated from the effluents. Similarly, the Perumballam Odai and Sunnambu Odai, two major water carrying channels, also carried huge amount of untreated effluents on Tuesday. Every 5th of June is celebrated as the World Environment Day to spread awareness on environmental issues and encourage political action. The district authorities here too celebrate the day every year and this year is no exception. “But still, no positive action has been taken up till date to sort out the serious problem of discharging untreated effluents in water sources, which are the lifeline of thousands of farmers in the district,” laments Kalingarayan Pasana Sabhai President V.M. Velayudham. More than 70 per cent of the people in the district depend on the agriculture sector for their livelihood. Erode is one of the major turmeric producing districts in the country. Sugarcane, paddy and banana are cultivated in hundreds of acres in the district. “But the textile processing and tannery units, which employs a few thousand people, are poisoning the fertile lands - the principal source of income for more than 15 lakh people,” points out Lower Bhavani Farmers Association President S. Nallasamy. The textile processing and tannery industries have already caused irreversible damage to the environment. The indiscriminate dumping of untreated effluents had led to serious public health problems. “More and more farmers and farm labourers are suffering from skin related diseases as they often come in contact with the polluted water. The problem has assumed a serious proportions in the Kalingarayan ayacut as most of the tanneries are located near the Kalingarayan canal,” points out District Secretary of Tamil Nadu Farmers Association T. Subbu. The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) and the authorities in the district administration were not able to prevent the flow of untreated effluents in the water sources, despite their tall promises and several drives to control pollution. The solution to the problem, many farmers here feel, is the shifting of all the textile processing and tannery industries to one industrial complex and build a common effluent treatment plant for them. “Though this solution has been discussed in several forums earlier, it is still not very effective. The best solution to the problem is to discourage the export of textile products. We can have the textile industries to satisfy the domestic requirements. India should not become a dump yard for other countries,” Mr. Nallasamy says. A senior official in the district administration here admitted that it was not possible to monitor all the units and prevent them from discharging untreated effluents in water sources effectively. “All the units are located in different places and it is not possible to keep a close watch on their activities every day,” he said. The official, however, assured that the administration had initiated a number of measures to control the pollution. The textile processing and tannery units have caused irreversible damage to the environment It is not possible to monitor all the units, says an official in district administration