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Coimbatore , July 24

THE Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA) has suggested a tripartite plan of action involving— the knitwear industry, the Central and Tamil Nadu Governments— to ensure a time-bound `road-map' for solving the effluent discharge issue.Filing a joint affidavit by the three before the Madras High Court assuring of a time-bound implementation of the `zero discharge' effluent treatment plan for Tirupur dyeing industry and pleading for a required time frame to achieve this are the only options now available to save the knitwear industry, its exports and the huge employments, the TEA has said.

Reacting to the Division Bench's order to close down all except 89 dyeing and bleaching units (that met with the court's earlier directive of paying 25 per cent of the cost of installation of reverse osmosis plant to treat effluent), the TEA has said that this would affect the future of the knitwear industry and its exports as the 89 dyeing and bleaching units would at best be able to fulfil only 20 per cent of the processing requirement of the knitwear industry.

The closure will have widespread economic implications and besides affecting the jobs for three lakh workers, will adversely impact down stream industries such as yarn producers, suppliers of inputs such as dyes and chemicals and other service providers.

Garment buyers will avoid Tirupur and once its clients are lost, it would be difficult for the industry to win them back, the TEA President, Mr Sakthivel, said adding that even in the event of the dyeing and bleaching units are permitted to restart after installation of RO plants, the loss of buyers at this stage would cause permanent damage to the industry.

He said the State and the Central Governments should initiate discussions with the industry and put in place a plan of action to achieve `zero discharge' within the shortest time possible.

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