THE expansion plans of Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Paper Ltd (TNPL), funded by the World Bank (WB) to the tune of $75 million, has rung alarm bells in environmental quarters. J Paul Bhaskar, chairperson of the Dindigul-based Bhagwati Environment Development Institute (BEDI), has appealed to WB to consider the ecological cost of the projected 73,000 cubic metres of effluent to be generated every day if the expansion plans are pushed through. Already, Bhaskar contends, TNPL has made the water of the Pugalur irrigation channel in Trichi district unfit for consumption by discharging 38,000 cubic metres of treated effluent into it every day. The ground water within a 5 km radius of the unit has also been adversely affected due to seepage.

The WB has advised BEDI to take the matter up with the state pollution control board (SPCB). Heinz Vergin, director of the Bank's India country operations, has informed Bhaskar that TNPL has obtained a no-objection certificate from the SPCB to go ahead with its plans. TNPL managing director S K Das defended the proposed plans, asserting that the SPCB had been stringent in enforcing environmental standards and had tested the effluent discharge regularly.