800 dyeing units face closure

COIMBATORE, May 18: The immediate future of over 800 dyeing units, employing around 2 lakh workers, in the textile towns of Tiruppur and Kar...

COIMBATORE, May 18: The immediate future of over 800 dyeing units, employing around 2 lakh workers, in the textile towns of Tiruppur and Karur in Tamil Nadu seems to be in jeopardy following the units8217; failure to comply with the Madras High Court8217;s verdict to instal effluent treatment plants ETPS within the stipulated deadline and subsequent Supreme Court refusal to grant an interim stay on the order. The units8217; closure, ordered by a green bench of the High Court which had granted them time till May 11 to instal ETPS, is also bound to affect the knitwear industry, a Rs 2000 crore foreign exchange earner with a Rs 1000 crore domestic market.

The green bench, on a public interest litigation filed against these units by Karur Taluk Noyyal River Irrigation Farmers8217; Association in 1996 for violating pollution norms, had ordered that they instal ETPS or close down. The PIL had charged that effluents discharged from these units, reported at around nearly 13 million litres per day, were polluting the Noyyal riverand spoiling the ground water.

Around 160 units were closed down in March 1997 and 108 in January this year following the green bench8217;s order. Again, on April 29, the bench declined to extend the May 11 deadline by six months on an appeal by the Tirupur Dyeing Factory Owners Association TDFOA and Tiruppur Exporters8217; Association TEA which said the ETPS could not be commissioned due to reasons beyond their control. The dyeing factories and TEA filed special leave petitions in the Supreme Court, which on May 14, refused to pass an interim stay on the green bench8217;s order. The apex court, however, granted some relief by directing that units which had completed work on the plants could approach the state Pollution Control Board PCB for consent to resume functioning.

Meanwhile, the state PCB has also stepped in to initiate action against erring units. The board would inspect the units, study the status and the steps taken to complete the installation, PCB sources said. However,it would find it difficult tofinish the task immediately, as it had to cover a large number of units to make a proper assessment, they said.

According to an office-bearer of then Tiruppur Dyeing Unit Owners8217; Association, electrical and mechanical works have been completed in most ETPS and only pipelaying remains pending.

Over one-fourth of the units, spread over various parts of the town, have almost completed the work on setting up eight common ETPS, investing over Rs 40 crore, while some individual plants have completed the work for the primary treatment, he said. Some units were also awaiting the subsidy announced by the government, he said.

At least some of the 136 dyeing and bleaching units which have completed the erection work have obtained consent from the PCB to operate and others with consent orders were waiting for their renewal, he said. However, over 500 units that are yet to complete the work are expected to be served with notices for disconnection of power supply soon, but only after making the detailed study, whichwould take some time, giving some relief to the units. The unit owners were working overtime in a bid to complete the installation before the visit of board officials and to obtain consent, association sources said.