Business

Companies deny polluting Periyar

Special Correspondent

Panchayat chief says closure of companies will render scores of people jobless

KOCHI: The two companies in the Eloor-Edayar region, on whom the Ernakulam Collector had served show-cause notices for allegedly dumping effluents in the Periyar, have denied the charge, and the president of the Kadungalloor panchayat, where the two companies are located, has come to their defence.

Cochin Minerals and Rutiles Limited (CMRL) and Binani Zinc have written back to the Collector saying that they had nothing to do with the discolouration of the Periyar waters towards the tail-end of the river.

Collector Mohammed Hanish had, on a complaint by environmental groups, on Wednesday served notices on the two companies asking them to explain why action should not be taken against them. The river had turned brownish grey during the Onam days and, on Wednesday, it had flown back upstream from the Paathaalam Bund. This had caused alarm among the people who feared the contaminated water might get mixed up with the drinking water system.

Plea to Collector

Meanwhile, president of the LDF-ruled Kadungalloor panchayat, Rathnamma Suresh, told the Collector that the panchayat council did not believe the two companies were responsible for the discolouration. She urged the Collector not to take any action against them until there was a "scientific, concrete evidence" against them. She told him that the closure of the companies would hit the panchayat's finances and throw scores of its residents out of job.

The panchayat president's stand has put the district administration in a spot.

companies, which have been functioning in the area for a long time, closed, the panchayat's finances would go to the dogs. "They are our panchayat's main sources of revenue." Moreover, scores of people in the panchayat directly or indirectly depended on the two companies for their livelihood. She said that though Kadungalloor was basically a farming panchayat, agriculture was down in the dumps. In case the companies folded, both the panchayat and the people would suffer.

"I can tell you how the closure of a factory affects people," she said. Ms. Suresh said there were `some external forces' bent upon getting the two factories, especially the CMRL, closed. "Maybe, they are not getting enough donations from these companies." She alleged that the environmental groups were all making wild allegations based on hearsay and assumptions. She wondered on what scientific data did they base their assumptions. Only scientists, after studying the issue, could come to a conclusion about such important issues, she said. She questioned the environmental groups petitioning the Collector without consulting the `elected panchayat.'

Ms. Suresh, however, agreed that contamination of the Periyar was a big problem, which needed immediate solution. At the same time, she said, companies should continue to function so that people would not lose their jobs.

Environmentalists' stance

Many environmental groups have taken strong exception to Ms. Suresh's support to the companies over the contamination issue. Periyar Malineekarana Virudha Samiti leader Purushan Eloor dubbed her contention as born out of her hostility towards environmental groups and alleged that she was hand in glove with the companies.

He recalled that politicians in the area had even accused the environmental activists as `foreign spies.'

Prof. Seetharaman, secretary of Paristhithi Samrakshana Sangham, and Dr. C.M. Joy, secretary of the All-Kerala River Protection Council, have demanded the Kadungalloor panchayat to cancel the no-objection certificate (NOC) issued to these companies. They have also wanted the panchayat to sue the companies for compensation "for contaminating the drinking water of lakhs of people."

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