TIRUCHY: Farmers in Kattur near Lalgudi in the district complain that a private sugar mill in the village has been discharging effluents illegally into a canal that irrigates hundreds of acres of paddy fields. They expressed concerns that the effluents could contaminate groundwater and soil. They have urged the district administration for steps to ensure the mill stopped discharging any waste into the canal.
G Arivumani, a farmer from Kattur, said he cultivated samba paddy on five acres near a site maintained by the Kothari Sugars and Chemicals Limited. The mill often releases effluents into the Peruvalai and Panguni irrigation canals, and other drainage channels during the monsoon.
The discharge ultimately reaches paddy fields and harms the crop, he said. "The crops completely wither as the effluent discharged by the mill is in concentrated form," he alleged.
Another farmer demanded officials advise the mill authorities to construct a concrete bund around its storage yard as well as the bio yard to prevent leakage during the rainy season. When contacted, V Ramachandran, General Manager of Kothari Sugars and Chemical Limited, denied the allegations.
The deputy general manager, however, suspected leakage from the yard. "We are supplying farmers biomanure produced at a bio yard maintained by the mill. As it is enriched organic manure, they are using it for their fields. Due to heavy rains, the leakage from the yard might have mixed with canal water. We did not intentionally discharge any effluents.
Moreover, as it got diluted with the rainwater, it would not harm crops but benefit them in several ways," Gopi, deputy general manager of the mills, told TNIE. He also said that one of their two units has remained idle since this April due to poor supply of sugarcane by farmers. Operations are planned to resume only after Pongal in 2025.