effluents spur boycott: Farmers from Kuppam village in Tamil Nadu's Karur district have declared a boycott of the assembly elections, scheduled for May 8-10, 2006. They allege that effluents from bleaching and dyeing units in Tirupur, upstream of the Noyyal, have seriously affected the village in the past few years. But the government has paid no heed to their complaints. The farmers allege that the industrial effluents have caused havoc to nearly 8,000 hectares of cultivatable land in Karur district and polluted 1,000 cusecs of drinking water.

and so does garbage: Kuppam's farmers are not alone. Some 2,000 voters from 20 villages including Vellalore, near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu,