originally posted on November 23, 2016

The City Corporation stopped drinking water supply on Tuesday for two days to address complaints of contamination caused by industrial effluent.

The problem of industrial effluent being drained into Cauvery river due to irresponsible attitude of dyeing, bleaching, tanning and printing units has been persisting despite periodic actions by the Tamil Nadu POllution Control Board.

Complaints from the public became vociferous in the last few days after the water supplied for drinking turned unbearably smelly.

Official sources said the problem had turned acute since the effluent discharge was more at a time when water flow into the Cauvery was at a diminished level.

On Monday, District Collector S. Prabakar, Corporation Commissioner M. Seeni Ajmal Khan and MLAs K.V. Ramalingam and K.S. Thennarasu inspected the pumping station, and subsequently an instruction was issued for stoppage of water supply to undertake rectification works.

An area encompassing 22 out of 60 wards in the erstwhile Erode Municipality that received water from a large overhead tank was the most affected.

Effluent discharge into Pitchakarapallam Odai would be tested at a Bangalore Laboratory, and subsequently a proposal would be prepared for establishing a water treatment plant at the confluence point of Pitchakarapallam Odai and Cauvery river, the Corporation Commissioner said.

The City Corporation is hopeful that additional release of water into the Cauvery from the Mettur Dam in the coming days will eclipse the impact of effluent discharge.

The City Corporation has requested the Electricity Department authorities to release the collected water at Vendipalayam Barrage that was also a partial cause for the foul smell in the water supplied for drinking purposes. Meanwhile, a delegation of DMK functionaries led by Urban unit secretary M Subramaniam submitted a petition to the Corporation Commissioner asking for speedy remedy in this issue.