The Hindu : Front Page : Pollution level alarming in Cauvery

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 05, 2007
ePaper

Front Page

Front Page

Pollution level alarming in Cauvery

L. Renganathan

KARUR : With the water flow in the Cauvery ebbing to just 1,000 cusecs, the pollution level in the river has gone up consequent to the continued discharge of effluents from the Noyyal and Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Limited at Kagithapuram near here.

People along the course of the river complain of increased skin problems. Livestock are affected too.

Dyeing and bleaching units based in Tirupur dump effluents, treated or otherwise, into the Noyyal, which drains into the Cauvery near Noyyal village in Karur district. Just a couple of miles downstream, TNPL discharges chlorine-mixed effluents into the Pugalur channel.

A few months ago, the pollution level in the Noyyal crossed 5,000 TDS (Total Dissolved Solids).

While the World Health Organisation has set the level for human consumption as a maximum of 500 TDS, pollution control agencies claim that up to 2,000 TDS could be granted in water for irrigation purposes.

When the Mettur dam is opened, the river carries at least 10,000 cusecs.

At that rate the polluting agents are simply diluted and pose a lesser threat to human beings, cattle and crops. But during the Mettur closure period, the discharge is down to a meagre 2,000 cusecs, essentially to feed standing annual crops and meet the drinking water needs of riverside towns such as Tiruchi.

Now the discharge from Mettur is down to just 1,000 cusecs and the pollution level in the Noyyal has been around 3,500 TDS.

The least admissible proportion of 1:20 of effluent and water cannot be maintained since there is less flow.

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

Front Page