After Tirupur dyeing units, officials to face govt action

Many heads in the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board are set to roll, with the state government directing the board to submit the service records of all senior officials, including the ones who served in Tirupur wing, for failing to comply with a court direction issued in 2006 on cracking down on polluting dyeing units, highly placed sources say.

While passing orders to shutdown 752 dyeing and bleaching units in Tirupur for failing to conform to zero discharge of effluents and polluting toxic effluents into the River Noyyal, the first bench of the Madras high court, comprising Chief Justice Yusuf Eqbal and Justice T S Sivagnanam directed the state to furnish a list of officials in charge of affairs during the relevant point of time. "As they had failed to fully comply with the directions, of the court appropriate action may be taken against them," the judges said.

"At a high-level meeting with the officials of the PCB on Wednesday, chief secretary S Malathi asked officials to submit the names of all officials concerned, irrespective of their posts they held," official sources told TOI. As per the court directions, the PCB is also finalising the names for a committee which, along with the high-court's panel led by advocate T Mohan, will inspect each unit and effluent treatment plant. Upon receiving the compliance report, the court will decide on reopening the unit.

Meanwhile, the dyeing units have called for a bandh in Tirupur on Friday against the closure orders. The crackdown continued for the second day, with Tamil Nadu Electricity Board snapping power supply to the bleaching and dyeing units. The units will have to set up reverse osmosis plant, multi stage operation system, crystalliser and solar evapouraion pants and maintain log books on how much quantity of water is sent to the plant and recycled, besides noting down the rejects obtained as crystals. Energy meters will have to be installed too.