As concerns for the Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) Textile Processing Centre at Periyapattu, Chidambaram Taluk (Cuddalore) are growing with people recently protesting against the same, the association has assured that the centre will follow compliance strictly.
As per T. Rajkumar, Chairman of the park, the centre will not draw water from the ground when the proposed desalination plant is commissioned.
Similarly, effluents from the various units will not be brought by pipeline to the Cuddalore park for discharge, as feared by many people.
“The marine life in that area will not be affected by effluent. If any facility does not meet the standards, it will be closed. The association is trying to have online control too,” he added while speaking to The Hindu.
It is pertinent to mention here that with 10 textile processing units, this processing centre is in 237 acres. Almost 10 million litres a day of water would be required for treatment.
Though five borewells have been sunk at the park as a part of the project, the plan is to take the complete requirement from the proposed desalination plant when it is set up.
The SIMA mooted the project almost 15 years ago, in 2005, and finalised Cuddalore as the location, thanks to the water availability. Union as well as Tamil Nadu State Governments will monitor whether the discharged effluent meets the norms.
Around 5,000 jobs are expected to generate by this processing centre.
The current challenge is how to draw water for the daily requirement till the desalination plant is set up. If this can be resolved, five units will commence operations in a year. The Tamil Nadu Government has given its consent to provide water from the second phase of the industrial park as a temporary measure. The desalination plant is expected to be ready in 2 years.
