The Hindu 19.07.2012
Hazardous wastes accumulate along roadsides at Choolai
A threat to health, environment
Solid waste from textile processing and tannery units dumped on the roadside in Choolai in Erode.– PHOTO: M. GOVARTAHN
The indiscriminate act of dumping hazardous solid waste on the roadsides has commenced once again in Erode town and its suburbs.
More
than 50 bags of sludge from the textile processing and tannery units
have been dumped in Choolai, a thickly populated residential colony in
Erode town on Wednesday.
Though the activity had been
going on, on the sly, for years in different parts of the district, the
units had stopped the dumping for a brief period as the officials in
the revenue department and Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB)
stepped up the vigilance.
But a few units resumed the
activity as the administration and the board were not paying much
attention on the textile processing and tannery industries these days.
Residents in Choolai reported about the dumping of sludge to the
officials in TNPCB and the district administration and asked them to
initiate stern action against the perpetrators.
Sources
say that the processing units should dispose the sludge, which comes
out as a solid waste after treating the effluents, safely in scientific
landfill sites. The dumping of sludge in the open is against the
pollution control rules, they point out.
A few
textile processing and tannery units in the district often resort to the
practice of dumping sludge on the roadsides as they lack facilities to
dispose the waste scientifically. As a good amount money has to be spent
for hiring the services of private firms for the safe disposal of
sludge, the units find the dumping on the roadsides as a cheaper
alternative.
The mindless dumping poses serious
threat to the environment and the public health. The sludge remains for
months together on the roadsides as the local administration does not
have the facility to handle the sludge safely.
The
district administration should find out those who have dumped the sludge
on the roadside and initiate stern action against them, residents
demand.
In a response to the demand, officials said
that they would look into the issue and take steps to prevent the
industrial units from dumping the sludge on the roadsides.
