Mudalipalayam residents dread next spell of rain fearing flow of leachate into water bodies

Residents of Mudhalipalayam and surroundings dread the next spell of rainfall due to fear of the groundwater pollution worsening further.

Citing an inspection report of Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board mentioning TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) level of upto 1.2 lakh mg per litre of leachate water taken from an adjoining quarry, villagers have begun questioning if textile wastewater had also been emptied into the quarry along with the untreated municipal wastes

The TNPCB report elaborates on the water sample taken for testing as follows (mg per litre): Total Suspended Solids – 390, Chloride – 47304, Sulphate – 596, COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) – 33600, Sodium – 43000, and Potassium – 32,250

Due to high chloride and sulfide content, BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) value could not be ascertained. The report also states that arsenic and mercury values, and cyanide value could not be ascertained.

Citing studies stating that effluents, especially dyes, are difficult to degrade, farmers have been complaining that the dyeing industries look for easy ways to dispose off the effluent since the treatment costs are high.

A combination of ozonisation, coagulation and activated sludge process in multiple reactors are required for treating textile waste water, studies state.

Research findings also indicate that higher TDS levels in water causes gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, respiratory, and skin effects.

It is unethical on the part of the Tiruppur Corporation to let textile industries pollute the groundwater, according to representatives of environmental and farmers’ associations who are espousing the cause of the Mudhalipalayam residents.

Residents of Iduvai village where the Tiruppur Corporation has been permitted by the Madras High Court to establish a waste dump on a temporary basis had adopted a resolution at the grama sabha meeting last month urging the Corporation to stop dumping wastes.

Villagers reasoned out during the meeting that they are not prepared to accept the assurances of the Corporation about compliance with the norms of TNPCB. The residents, mostly farmers, fear that the leachate water would contaminate surface, impacting their very livelihood.