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.
