ERODE: Perundurai and its surrounding areas have slowly becoming capital of cancer in Erode district due to water and air pollution caused by dyeing, tannery, old tyre retreading and old battery processing units at the SIPCOT industrial growth centre in Perundurai, rued Association of pollution affected people of Perundurai.
Following the association announced a massive stir in front of the TNPCB office, Perundurai, on June 26, environment minister KC Karupanan invited the association for talks in the TNPCB office on Saturday and in that meeting the association convenor S Chinnasamy, functionaries Raghunathan, Palanisamy, KV Ponnaiyan and others said that Sipcot, located in 2700 acre, was functioning with over 250 units for the past 2 decades.
Though the HC ordered all units follow zero liquid discharge (ZLD) system and the SC upheld it, many units violated the norms and let the untreated effluents in open places, borewells, wells and rainwater and dumped the sludges in open places, buried in the earth and dumped in the Odakattur tank and some wells.
The contaminated water of the tank reached 400 acre Palathohuvu tank in Chennimalai block affecting people there. So, the TDS in the groundwater touched 20000 ppm per litre as against the permissible limit of 500 ppm in drinking water. Now, around 60 persons in the area were afflicted with cancer and other diseases and in recent past 6 died due to cancer and 2 were struggling with that disease in villages.
As the units burnt substandard coal, firewood, tyre, tubes etc, they were emitting thick black air with small particles of dust were spreading around 5 km radius which created bad smell in many villages. It hit the farm, animal husbandry activities and forced many to think to shift to other places.
Hence, all pollution causing units should be closed permanently, land allotment order be cancelled, power and water connection be disconnected, no pollution causing units be permitted hereafter in Sipcot, the sludge in the earth, tanks be removed, usage of coal and firewood as fuel be banned, tyre retreading and old battery processing units be closed.
They also wanted people's representatives be included in the monitoring committee led by collector to check pollution problem, protected water supply be arranged in 25 villages around the Sipcot where drinking water was much contaminated, due compensation be given to the ryots who were hit by pollution, studies be made about TDS in all water courses in Sipcot and surrounding villages every month and it be made public, relief be given to the families whose members died due to cancer and all assurances given at the Perundurai tahsildar's peace meeting on June 5 be fulfilled an hospital at Eengur.