Industrial Pollution and Economic Compensation
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INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION AND ECONOMIC COMPENSATION A STUDY OF DOWN STREAM VILLAGES IN NOYYAL RIVER, Tirupur, TAMIL NADU, SOUTH INDIA 1 Contents Chapter 1. Introduction...............................................................................................................5 Chapter 2. Background for awarding compensation ................................................................ 7 2.1 Industrial pollution ....................................................................................................... 7 2.2 Local communities action and legal proceedings .......................................................... 7 2.3 Court action .................................................................................................................. 8 Chapter: 3 Research Methodology ........................................................................................ 10 3.1 Source of Information ................................................................................................. 10 3.1.1 Analysis of water samples ....................................................................................... 10 3.1.2 Field Procedures .................................................................................................. 11 3.1.3 Analytical Work .................................................................................................. 11 3.2 Agricultural Sector ................................................................................................. 11 3.3 Relexive Comparison by Double Difference Method .................................................. 11 3.4 Selection of Villages ................................................................................................... 12 3.4.1 Profile of Sample Villages ....................................................................................... 14 3.5 Sampling Technique ................................................................................................... 16 3.6 Methods of Data Collection and Analysis ................................................................... 17 3.7 Implicated problems in Compensation Mechanism ..................................................... 18 Chapter 4. Formulation of compensation .............................................................................. 20 4.1 Polluter pays principle ................................................................................................ 20 4.2 Vellore tannery case ................................................................................................... 20 4.3 The principle of different class compensation for victims in Noyyal River .................. 21 Chapter 5. Description of Noyyal river and Orathapalayam reservoir ................................... 23 5.1.1 Noyyal River ....................................................................................................... 24 5.1.2 Orathapalayam Reservoir ..................................................................................... 24 5.2 Industrial pollution and loss of ecosystem services in Noyyal river ............................. 24 5.2.1 Pollution Load Generated by Tiruppur Textile Processing Units .......................... 25 5.3 Previous studies on ground water pollution in the region ............................................ 25 5.3.1 Ground Water Pollution ....................................................................................... 25 5.3.2 SURFACE WATER POLLUTION ........................................................................ 25 5.3.3 Cropping patterns of left and right main canals in Orathapalyam Reservoir.............. 25 5.3.4 Water and Soil quality standards……………………………………………………………..27 Chapter: 6 Impact of Pollution………………………………………………………………………...28 6.1. Water quality parameters in the five villages 2007 ......................................................... 28 6.1.2 Impact on Agriculture…………………………………………………………………………...29 6.1.3 Impact of pollution on agricultural productivity and area under cultivation for paddy…………32 6.1.4 Discussion………………………………………………………………………………………..36 6.2 Impact of Livestock………………………………………………………………………………..37 6.3 Impact on Employment…………………………………………………………………………….39 6.4 Problems in implementing the compensation mechanism……………………………………….. .41 2 6.4.1 Scope of damage assessed……………………………………………………………………... 41 6.4.2 Property rights over the environmental resources....................................................................... 41 6.4.3 Quantifying the benefits............................................................................................................... 42 6.4.4 Selection of the economic valuation technique............................................................................ 42 6.4.5 Limited scope of damage assessed……………………………………………………………… 43 6.5 Zero Discharge process in Tirupur................................................................................................... 43 6.5.1 Dyers problems in paying compensation........................................................................................ 44 6.5.2 Large Dyeing Units………………………………………………………………………………. 44 6.5.3 Small Scale Dyeing Units………………………………………………………………………… 44 6.5.4 Medium Scale Dyeing Units……………………………………………………………………… 45 6.6 Regulatory Problems………………………………………………………………………………… 46 6.7 impact/Damage studies……………………………………………………………………………….46 Chapter:7 Final Evaluation………………………………………………………………………………..46 7.1 Water Pollution: Policy and Institutional failure…………………………………………………….. 46 7.2 Actions needed and Suggestions…………………………………………………………………….. 48 7.3 Dyers…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 49 7.4 References……………………………………………………………………………………………..49 3 Abstract Tirupur is an Indian textile town which constitutes many dyeing and bleaching units situated in the upstream. Tirupur serves as one of the major exporters of textiles. The industrial pollution have affected not only the surface water but also the soils and ground water. This thesis studies the impacts of industrial pollution on agriculture and livestock. It also explores the implicated problems involved in putting an economic compensation mechanism into practise. The impact study was made on the detailed primary data collected from an intensive study of comparing a pollution affected villages located downstream of the Orathapalyam dam, Tamil Nadu, South India with a control village. The cost estimates that the impact of industrial pollution on predominant crops is quite substantial in monetary terms. This paper argues that the compensation principle might work if the assessment is done to all affected victims. Both quantifying and non quantifying benefits should be incurred in the mechanism. Further, mere passing of fines and creating institutional structures are not sufficient to address the environmental problems. Policies should be implemented in their right perspective. Institutions should be strong enough, with more autonomy and powers, to deal with problems and to monitor the RO plants in dyeing units in Tirupur. 4 INTRODUCTION Chapter: 1 Our world has seen essential and persistent change in the last 50 years. The increased economic growth of the developing countries has bitterly affected the quality of the environment, which becomes a menace to sustainable development (Nelliyat, 2007). In developing countries where environmental regulation is fragile, the wastes from different sectors are randomly discharged in to the ecosystems. (Appasamy and Nelliyat, 2007). The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) recently concluded that most of the world’s ecosystems have already suffered major degradation. The most impact of pollution is on air and water resources and associated ecosystems. Wastewater strategies are often not adequate in many developing countries. Therefore the impact of wastewater on the receiving ecosystems is radically high when there is accumulation of pollutants. In developing countries where formal regulation is weak or absent informal regulation has resulted in the control of environmental externalities like industrial pollution or forest degradation (Murty et al. 1999; World Bank, 1999). At times new model of pollution control also emerges where market agents like producers, consumers, local communities, and government have stimulus to work for the decline of environmental externalities (World Bank, 1999). Noyyal River originates from the Vellingiri hills of the Coimbatore district, (Tamil Nadu, India). It passes through Tirupur and it is stored up in the Orathapalayam Dam to be used in agriculture and drinking purposes for the downstream villages in the Erode District. A large number of dyeing units are situated in the upstream in and around Tirupur. They discharge their chemical and toxic effluents either directly or indirectly in to the Noyyal River (Blomqvist, 1996). As a result all the irrigation wells along the river and in the downstream villages have been polluted and the ecosystem has been adversely affected by the seepage and percolation of water stored in the Orathapalayam dam. Eventually it affects the agriculture, livestock rearing, and fisheries of the downstream farmers around the Orathapalayam dam (Appasamy and Nelliyat, 2007). This water pollution causes serious impacts on socio-economic prominence of the people living around the Orathapalayam dam. The local communities through the Karur Noyyal Canal Agriculturists Association filed a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) against the polluters in 5 the Supreme Court to direct