To be implemented on a public-private partnership mode
The Erode Corporation will soon replace conventional fluorescent lamps with energy-efficient LED lamps for street lighting in the district. According to sources, the process of selecting the contractor is nearing completion. The civic body has come up with the plan as its electricity expenditure particularly for street lighting continues to grow. It maintains more than 18,500 street lights and pays over Rs.3.5 crore as electricity charges for street lighting to the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation every year. Besides, the civic body spends over Rs. 1.5 crore towards the maintenance of the street lights.
People say the units are polluting Cauvery and Bhavani rivers
Residents of Suriyampalayam have appealed to the district administration to shut down all the polluting textile processing and tannery units in Erode town and its surroundings. A number of textile processing and tannery units in the district were dumping huge amount of untreated, toxic effluents in the waterways, Cauvery and Bhavani rivers and vacant lands causing irreversible damage to the environment.
The Erode Corporation has intensified its campaign against the use of plastic and polythene containers by joining hands with non-governmental organisations and business establishments. On Sunday, JCI Erode along with the civic body launched an initiative to distribute eco-friendly bags to the people in the town.
The industrial clusters based in Greater Kochi fall into the group of cities with high pollution levels, as per a study done by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in association with Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi. The study had carried out an environmental assessment of industrial clusters across India, the results of which have been published online.
Under the study, a comprehensive environmental pollution index (CEPI) was calculated to help prioritise planning needs to improve the quality of the environment in industrial clusters.
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.
Higher Education Minister P. Palaniappan has appealed to engineering students to come up with cost-effective technologies to augment power generation using renewable energy sources.
There is an immediate need for innovative, low-cost technologies to enhance power generation using renewable energy sources, including solar power, as the energy requirement in the country continues to grow, the Minister pointed out while speaking at the Academic Excellence Award function held at Kongu Engineering College here on Sunday.
Residential areas covered by blanket of smoke for five days
Vendipalayam and many other residential areas near the town are covered by a blanket of smoke for the past five days as heaps of garbage dumped in the Erode Corporation's yard continue to burn. A major fire broke out in the yard in Vendipalayam last Sunday night. The flames spread quickly to most parts of the yard despite the efforts made by the fire and rescue services personnel along with workers from the civic body to put out the fire.
“It appears that the municipality has joined hands with textile processing and tannery industries, which have been causing irreversible damage to the environment by dumping untreated, toxic effluents, many residents in the town say.
The farmers have been fighting for years to protect River Cauvery and its tributaries from the textile processing and the tannery units.
Erode Corporation has completed preparation of a detailed project report for its ambitious Uratchikottai Water Supply scheme with the cost estimated to be Rs. 407 crore.
The civic body will implement the scheme with funds from Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure Financial Services Limited (TNUIFSL) with assistance from German Development Bank (KfW).
CHENNAI: In a bid to make the state slum-free, the Tamil Nadu government has selected nine urban agglomerations under the Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) for preparing proper rehabilitation plans.
Official sources told Express that the likely nine cities are Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Erode, Tiruppur, Tiruchy, Tirunelveli, Salem and Vellore.
