CHENNAI: At the end of the three-year term of the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee on hazardous wastes, Tamil Nadu has been given a poor report card.

The report submitted by the Committee to the Supreme Court in November last has declared that Tamil Nadu has fared very poorly in addressing the question of handling hazardous wastes. "Despite three years of interaction with the State, I'm anguished to report that there has been no progress whatsoever and there is not a single hazardous waste disposal facility in Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu government has miserably failed," the committee's chairman, G. Thyagarajan, said. Dr. Thyagarajan spoke to The Hindu ahead of his presentation for the S. Krishnaswamy Memorial Endowment Lecture, organised by the Chemical Industries Association in memory of its founder, here on Thursday. The chemistry and chemicals process industry specialist chose to talk on his favourite topic for the oration: Desirable future scenario for chemical industries. The Association president K.P.N. Panicker conferred the Rasa Udyog Ratna on Dr.Thyagarajan.

Tamil Nadu's inaction was all the more worrisome as it was one of the five major hazardous wastes creator States in the country along with Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Kerala. Eighty per cent of all hazardous wastes generated in the country come from these States but except for Gujarat, Maharashtra and to a certain extent Andhra Pradesh, the situation was abysmal in the rest of the country.

Without political will it would be impossible to bring about any change in the current scenario, Dr. Thyagarajan said. If Gujarat was a sterling example of a vibrant chemical industry with excellent processing techniques, it was only because the government was supportive. Andhra Pradesh had evolved its own waste finger printing system to identify wastes from their precise industries that discharge them. Tamil Nadu, like many other States, had to contend with not only wastes being generated from current production but also those accumulated over the years. This would slowly push the critical chemical industries sector out of Tamil Nadu. Already other States like Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh had begun to woo pharma and chemical industries to set up units in their States. "I will not be surprised if a time comes when chemical industries begin to move out of Tamil Nadu," he said.

"While the government's intentions are good, there is no concerted action on the ground. The Pollution Control Board, Labour department and Revenue departments are involved in various aspects, but their actions are all disjointed," Dr. Thyagarajan said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail