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Public hearing in Madurai
Industries come forward
The 10th public
hearing organised by the Peoples Commission on Environment and Development
(PCED), India, was held in the city of Madurai. This hearing was co-chaired by
the Vice-Chairman of PCED, Mr. S P Godrej and Ms. Jaya Arunachalam, President,
Working Women’s Forum and Executive Committee Member of PCED. Dr. M.
Lakshmanan, Former Vice-Chancellor, Madurai Kamraj University, Mr. R
Bhaskaran, commissioner, Madurai corporation. Mr. A N Srinivasa Rao, President
of the Federation of Small Industries of India and Mr. T S Dhanapalam,
President, Tamil Nadu Small Scale Industries Association were the
Commissioners.
The four major issues that were discussed at the public hearing were :
(1) People’s Participation in Ecology Management,
(2)
Conservation and Management of Ground Water Resources,
(3)
Deteriorating Environmental Standards due to Urban Migration,
(4) Western
Ghats Rain Forests : Problems & Solutions.
107 participants representing various institutions from all over the State of
Tamil Nadu, particularly form the far flung districts of South and East,
participated in the hearing.
While the initial discussion was strictly restricted to the papers that were
presented, the hearing brought out a wealth of material on the various
environmental issues that need immediate attention of the State. One of the
major items that was discussed was pollution caused by industry, especially
the leather tanning industries based in and around the towns of Ambur and
Vaniyambadi in the North Arcot District. Several instances were cited by the
participants where the discharge of untreated effluents by these units has
resulted in a dramatic increase in the pollution level of underground water -
supply leading to total degradation of ground water resources. This has
further worsened the drinking water situation in several districts of the
State which already suffer from serious drinking water crisis. Participants
had come prepared with well thought out points and material and were in fact
very keen that the PCED, through its Chairman, take up these issues with the
State Government and bring to light the serious suffering of the people and
seek intervention of the State Government in the same. The PCED was also
requested to draw the attention of the Tamil Nadu State Pollution Control
Board to such happenings. Serious reservations were expressed about the
functioning of the Board and the methods it had adopted in providing clearance
from environmental point of view for such units.
The deteriorating output of the agricultural lands in various parts of the
State which were once extremely fertile was discussed in detail and was cited
as one of the major reasons for the large urban migration resulting in literal
break-down of essential services and facilities in several of the urban areas
in the State.
| The participation of the industry sector in such
public activities re-assured the citizens that industry would be
willing to involve itself in improving the environment |
Several of the
participating organisations also highlighted the need for coordinated effort
among themselves and expressed their desire to collaborate with other NGOs in
bringing into focus the several problems of environment prevailing in the
State. The hearing provided an ideal ground for several of these NGOs to meet
such other and get to know their working which will be the strong foundation
on which future networking among these NGOs could be made possible.
While a wide and varied sectoral representation was available at this hearing,
the keenness of the industry sector to participates in such public activities
had a re-assuring effect on the citizens that industry is concerned about the
quality of life of the people and would be willing to involve itself in
improving the environment.
Ajoy Bagchi
Executive Director
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