THE NOYYAL RIVER SPILLAGE

The Noyyal rises from the Vellingiri hills in the Western Ghats and covers a total area of 0.35 million hectares.

Cultivated land in the basin amounts to 0.18 million. The Noyyal flows through the districts of Coimbatore,Erode

and Karur and the urban centres of Coimbatore and Tiruppur, in western Tamilnadu

CAUSE FOR POLLUTION The pollution concentration in

Noyyal river was low till the river reached Tiruppur but increased considerably in Tiruppur area,due to textile effluent discharge.

Noyyal was not sufficient for diluting the pollutants and for several months in a year the only flow in the river was sewage and industrial effluent.

Industrial effluents have already compromised agriculture in this basin by grossly polluting both the groundwater and the river.

A BRIEF INSIGHT INTO THE TEXTILE CITY Tirupur, 50kms from Coimbatore

district of Tamil Nadu has emerged as a leading cotton knitwear industrial cluster in South India.

Buyers from around 35 countries visit Tirupur frequently.

In brief, the economic prosperity of Tiruppur depends highly on this industry and most of the local people are in one way or another involved in the knitwear business.

AFTERMATH AND IMPACT ANALYSIS OF THE SPILLAGE

GROUNDWATER Local groundwater has become brackish and considerably

harder over the past 10-15 years. Open wells and bore wells in and around Tiruppur and the

downstream stretch of Noyyal exhibit high levels of TDS. High concentration of heavy metals in ground water including

zinc, chromium, copper, and cadmium.

SURFACE WATER

pollution concentration in Noyyal River was low till the river reached Tiruppur but increased considerably in Tiruppur area, due to textile effluent discharge

Orathapalayam reservoir and system tanks had been badly affected by industrial pollution.

River and reservoir were not fit for aquatic organisms including fish.

the rainy season when there is some dilution, the surface water became unfit for irrigation and could not obviously used for drinking water or for livestock rearing.

ZONE WISE ANALYSISZone I• It’s the upper reach of the basin , which is free from

pollution since there is no industry and few human settlements.

Zone II• It’s the next stretch where Coimbatore city is located• Large quantities of sewage along with industrial

effluents are discharged into the river.• The river is relatively less polluted as it enters the

town of Tiruppur.

Zone III

where Tiruppur town is located is the most polluted stretch of the river.

From Tiruppur large quantities of textile effluents are discharged into the land and river.

Zone IV

Ranges from Orthapalayam to the confluence point with the Cauvery.

The pollution impact in Zone IV is not serious when compared to Zones II and III

GOVERNMENT ACTION According to the Water Prevention and Control of Pollution, every

industry is required to get consent to discharge its effluents. However, the same Act also empowers state governments to exempt any region or area from the provisions of the Act.

special status was granted to Tirupur in order to promote its textile units. The results of this grant has now cost us the Noyyal.

The industry has opposed the 'polluter pays' principle on the grounds that the foreign exchange they earn and the employment their industry generates is enough to warrant a high level of subsidies

Finallypressure from the civil society and judicial intervention led the TNPCB to insist on effluent treatment facilities in Tirupur