NAMAKKAL: Five unauthorised dyeing and printing units were demolished at Kumarapalayam in Namakkal district on Thursday after officials found them discharging untreated effluents into the Cauvery river in violation of government regulations.
Acting on the directive of environment and climate change minister V K Rajeev and with the orders of district collector L Madhubalan, officials from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) and the revenue department carried out the demolition with the help of police. They used heavy machinery to demolish the units.
The drive targeted two units in JKK Natarajar Nagar, two in Kaliannan Nagar and one in Sundaram Colony. The action followed inspections by senior ministers and district officials, who confirmed large-scale pollution from these establishments, said a TNPCB official.
Protests erupted when officials tried to check some smaller dye units. Owners of the small-scale dye units argued that larger factories releasing more than one lakh litres of untreated effluents daily should be shut down first. They said that in 2016, their association handed over 25 acres of land to the government for establishing a common effluent treatment plant. They demanded that the facility be set up immediately. Heated exchanges followed.
Officials granted a one-week grace period for the smaller units to obtain licences and asked them to stop operations till then.
