The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (tnpcb) wants the state's coffee planters to tackle water pollution on a war footing. The board has told coffee growers in Ootacamund, Yerkad and Kodaikanal to apply for and seek clearance from it for the installation of effluent treatment plants (etps) before the curing season commences this year.

The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1978, mandates all coffee plantations, which employ wet-method processing or coffee curing,to install etps. Since the inception of the tnpcb in 1982, the state's coffee planters have been advised to set up etps to meet the standards fixed for 30 main parameters that the act stipulates. There are nearly 20 to 25 wet processing units in each division that has received notices from tnpcb. Coffee curing not only involves extremely high water consumption, but also leads to the release of effluents