The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : `Erode tanners trying for environmental solution'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 09, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

`Erode tanners trying for environmental solution'

With reference to the report `Tanners awaiting court's nod' (published on Oct. 29), the secretary of the Erode Tannery Owners Association writes:

In terms of total number of tanneries in Tamil Nadu, Erode has only less than 5%. Never in the past hundred years, the Erode tanning industry got such a bad publicity, as is witnessed in the last three years.

All the tanneries were reopened after 1996, having constructed individual effluent treatment plants, duly inspected and approved by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and the Central Leather Research Institute, Chennai.

Individual tanners have obtained consent for production depending on the ETP capacity as sanctioned by TNPCB, ranging from 1 ton/day to 10 tons/day.

The Loss of Ecology Authority, under the Chairmanship of Hon'ble Justice, P. Baskaran, did visit Erode and its industrial areas, but it is totally untrue that "he sent a report to the Supreme Court, suggesting the shifting of all tanneries in Erode Periya Agraharam, to SIPCOT".

The Erode Tannery Owners Association has obtained a letter from the Loss of Ecology Authority to the effect it has not issued any directions to shift all tanneries in Erode Periya Agraharam to SIPCOT.

We, tannery owners of Erode-Periya Agraharam, to express our resolve to bring about an administratively feasible environmental solution, as desired by the Chairperson, TNPCB, have proposed to form a Common Tertiary Treatment Plant, to collect the treated tannery effluents from the member tanneries for further treatment in the Tertiary Treatment Plant, to achieve TNPCB norms, except TDS, before discharging into the Vairapalayam Sewage Treatment Plant, for dilution of TDS. In this regard, we have had discussions with Central Leather Research Institute, Chennai.

We also had discussions with the Municipal Chairman, Ma. Subramanian and the Municipal Commissioner to pass a resolution to permit the discharge of treated tannery effluent conforming to all the discharge norms of TNPCB, except TDS.

Our Staff Reporter's response:

The report does not criticise the Erode tanners.

In every Agricultural Grievances day meeting, farmers are complaining against the tanneries situated in Periya Agraharam that they are discharging huge quantity of effluents into the Cauvery and Kalingarayan Canal. Even at the meeting on October 29, the Kalingarayan Ayacut Farmers Association president, Velayutham, and president of the Erode District branch of the Tamilaga Vivasayeegal Sangam, E.R. Kumarasamy, flayed the tanners and sought immediate action against them.

They also suggested that all the tanneries may be shifted to SIPCOT. They also said that all the tanneries were tanning three or four times higher than the licence given to each tannery.

Further, I have not mentioned that all the tanners from Periya Agraharam will shift their units to SIPCOT. As 25 tanners have joined to form the Perundurai Leather Industries Eco Security Private Ltd with V. Ravichandran as its Chairman, I interviewed him.

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