A cereal mill in Tondiarpet which employed over 25 skilled labourers was forced to shut, as they could not use the water for processing, since it seems to contain almost 70 percent of petrol.
Vijay, who owns Arvee Dhal Mills in Varadaraja Perumal Koil Street, suffered a loss of Rs 30 lakh as he had to close his mill about 20 days ago due to the petrol-laced water in the bore wells.
“Water is vital for processing cereals in the mill. Because of the pollution, we had closed down the mill. I contemplated on digging another bore well. It is not expensive, but not viable because there is petrol everywhere,” said Vijay.
Besides, paying salary for his workers even during the closed days, Vijay had to pay extra money to bring lorries of water for his family. The polluted water has also damaged pipes and valves of bore well in the area.
“We have petitioned authorities but they have done nothing about it. If our efforts fail, we will file a suit against the company,” he said.