Bhavani River:
The Bhavani River originates in the upper regions of the Nilgiris of the Western Ghats. It is one of the two perennial rivers of water deficient Tamil Nadu. It crosses three districts in the Nilgiris. Coimbatore flowing east cuts across Erode district from west to east. This 185 km long river has its confluence with Cauvery at the town of Bhavani. Average flow per year is 67 thousand cubics.There are 14 dams in the mountain area. Thick Shola forest cover, rich wildlife and crystal clear water present an excellent scenic site of eco-preservation. Kuntha, Pyckara, Glenmargan and Pillur dams at the foot of the hills are used for generating Hydro Electric Power and there is no pollution. Lower down due to deforestation & intensive horticulture operations with tea, potato and other vegetables there is soil erosion and pollution with pesticides and fertilisers. Bhavani River enters the plains near Bathra-Kaliamman Temple near Mettupalayam. 30 km downstream is the Mettupalayam Lower Bhavani Dam, constructed 4 decades ago. There are a number of Industries in this area causing severe pollution.
South Indian Viscose Industries:
Previously known as South India Viscose Industries, SIV Industries (SIVIL) was incorporated in 1957. In Oct.'91, it came out with a rights issue to part-finance the setting up of an edible oil plant. SIVIL is a leading manufacturer of rayon-grade wood pulp, viscose staple fibre and viscose filament yarn. Apart from these, it also has an edible oil division which refines, extracts, processes and markets high-quality sunflower oil under the Golden Harvest brand and an agro forestry division which deals in seedlings of eucalyptus. SIVIL subsidiaries are -- SIV Magcobar Lignites, Microfarm Chemicals, IAEC Boilers, Baug-E-Sarah Investment, Rose Garden Finance, Good Luck Finance and Charming Finance. In 1995-96, the company came out with an expansion plan of setting up a 2-MW wind energy farm at Perungudi, Tamilnadu, at a cost of Rs 8.04 cr. With this, the aggregate capacity increased to 7 MW comprising of 28 wind mills.
Pollution & Aftermath:
Around 2.7 Lakh acres of land are irrigated by the Lower Bhavani project. Varieties of fish are grown and fishlings are grown at hatcheries and released into dam.Due to heavy pollution from the Industries above, mainly South India Viscose, fish mortality was heavy.Water was dark in colour due to heavy industrial pollution with decreased light entry into the bottom which again affected the fish and aquatic organisms. D.O. was less which killed aquatic life. Water let into irrigation canals was dark in colour with lignosulphates and other chemicals. Germination of ground nut crops and groundnut cultivation of the LBP Ayacut came to a stand still. After the discharge, the viscose factory was stopped from Dec, 1997 for two years by a High Court order. Ground nut cultivation is going on again.It withdraws about 50 mld of water - 56 per cent of total water withdrawl by industry in the entire basin. It also returns 41 mId of wastewater into the river.The movement against pollution in the Bhavani started after production capacity at SIV increased from 50 tonnes to 300 tonnes in 1993-94. The country-side was under siege: groundnut production had reduced, as had the protein content of foodgrain. Sugarcane, paddy and onion crops were affected by the poor water quality. Fish catch at Bhavanisagar dam reduced despite the presence of a hatchery.Anna University, notes: "Some of the pollutants like phenols, tanin, and lignin and metals are recorded beyond the guide levels." It adds that water users had reported intestinal and pulmonary disorders.
The Verdict:
After a long legal battle along with huge losses amounting to Rs 460 crore it suffered due to sluggish market demand and steep fall in the price of viscose fibre, the SIV company was forced to close its operations and settle the dues.Finally, the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) declared SIV as a sick unit in 2002-2003 as no one came forward to help this polluting industry.It was the people's fight against the polluting SIV that sent the company packing in-spite of the 14,000 employees going jobless. TNGM was instrumental gathering people's support and pressurised the TNPCB to take legal action against SIV.Following large-scale protests by the locals as well as the directives of the TNPCB and the High Court, SIV invested substantially to upgrade its pollution control equipment. It imported technology from a Germany–based agency for effluent treatment, which was also inadequate and the discharged poisonous effluents mixed in the river water.SIV challenged the judgement in the supreme court and they got their clearance for irrigation of agricultural lands and they tried to purchase the lands in the surrounding area. A strong protest was there from the agriculturalists and irrigation project was also dropped.
Conclusion:
We totally tend to agree that the environment need to be preserved for establishing a livelihood in this world. The verdict was passed against the defendant (SIV). Even Though there were a large number of people(agriculturalists) who were suffering in terms of leading a health livelihood, there were a considerable number of people(employees) who got benefitted by the defendant.
The defendant was convicted under “The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution)Act,1974”.A company that had a representative from the State government as one of its directors had to be closed because of its non-compliance to the standards of the Pollution control board. So irrespective of the natural resources that the industry is exploiting, it should also help to keep the environment clean to ensure sustainable business practices.
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