Persons running the manual dyeing units on the Kaliyanoor Road protested the demolitions stating that the TNPCB spared the bigger units and targeted the manual dyers. TNPCB District Environmental Engineer (DEE) K. Gokuladas who headed the drive, told them that all illegal units would be removed without any bias.

The protestors then guided the TNPCB officials to a unit on a sugarcane field on the Kaliyanoor Road. “It would have been impossible to identify it without the help of the villagers. The unit with three winches was in a concrete building that looked like a house and was locked from outside,” the DEE said.

The opposition from the farmers in the district to Kerala's proposal to build a dam across Bhavani river at Attapadi intensified as the farming community fears that the move may deprive them of water for irrigation.

Most of the farmers in the district depend on the Bhavani river for their irrigation needs. The river is the primary water source for over 2.5 lakh acres of lands in Erode and neighbouring Tiruppur and Karur districts.

Tamilaga Vivasayigal Livelihood Protection Committee has urged the Chief Minister to save farmers in Western Tamil Nadu from an “impending danger” to their livelihood that has come in the form of pipeline project by Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) from Kochi to Bangalore.

The pipeline on entering Tamil Nadu at Walayar would pass through agricultural lands in Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode, Namakkal, Salem, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts.

Says it is trying to create disharmony between two States

Members of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam staged a protest in the city and Mettupalayam against the Kerala's move to build a dam across Siruvani. The party's urban district secretary, R.R. Mohankumar, led the protests in the city, while his rural counterpart V. Eswaran in Mettupalayam.

Reckless behaviour of devotees at Kooduthurai is one reason; HR & CE Department workers too responsible

The River Cauvery is fast turning into a garbage dump at Kooduthurai, a famous religious spot located in Bhavani. Huge amount of discarded cloths, garlands, pooja materials, polythene bags and other waste end up in the river every day, leaving this holy site to stink.

The Federation of Cuddalore District Farmers' Associations has appealed to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to put in place permanent flood control measures in Cuddalore district.

In a representation, Federation secretary Karmangudi S. Venkatesan said Cuddalore district, by virtue of its geographical location, was acting as a drainage point for rainwater run-off originating from the districts of Salem, Erode, Karur, Namakkal, Tiruchi, Ariyalur and Perambalur.

Though the district level coordination committee directed the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) to register cases with the police against the owners of illegal textile processing units and those who rented their land for establishment of such units, not a single case has been filed so far.

The committee, established based on the directions of the Madras High Court, had give clear instructions to the TNPCB authorities a few weeks ago, asking them to file complaints so that the police could initiate criminal action against those running illegal textile processing units and those providing their lands for such units.

Colour of water turned black and acidic smell emanated

While people in the world observing the World Environment Day and discussing measures to protect the Earth on Tuesday, it is business as usual for many textile processing and tannery units in Erode district. A few textile processing and tannery units located in BP Agraharam and its nearby areas dumped huge amount of untreated, toxic effluents in a water carrying channel that flows into Cauvery River. The colour of the water turned black in the channel and the acidic smell emanated from the effluents.

No positive action taken till date to sort out problem of discharging untreated effluents into water sources

While people in the world observing the World Environment Day and discussing measures to protect the Mother Nature on Tuesday, it is business as usual for many textile processing and tannery units in Erode district. A few textile processing and tannery units located in BP Agraharam and its nearby areas dumped huge amount of untreated, toxic effluents in a water carrying channel that flows into Cauvery River. The colour of the water turned black in the channel and the acidic smell emanated from the effluents.

Plans are afoot to increase the production of inland fish in the State to three lakh tonnes a year.

Presently, of the total 5.97 lakh tonnes of fish production in Tamil Nadu, inland fish production is only 1.72 lakh tonnes and marine fisheries is 4.25 lakh tonnes. To make available more fish seeds and advanced fingerlings from 7 cm to 10 cm stage, the capacity of fish hatcheries and fish-rearing centres across the State is being enhanced and additional infrastructure created. Catla, Rohu, Mrigal varieties of Indian major carp (kendai meen) and common carp are bred and reared at these centres.

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