Tirupur: The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board has directed the district administration to seize machines from an illegal private charcoal unit near Palladam as it was running despite closure order. The charcoal manufacturing unit, which has been operating for the last few years, had failed to renew its licence. So, the TNPCB recommended the district monitoring committee, chaired by the collector, to disconnect power supply last year, said a senior TNPCB official from Tirupur south environmental division.
“As directed, Tangedco cut the electricity but we came to know that the unit has started operation without electricity. Its management managed to run the unit and produce charcoal. When we checked, we found that its emission was above permissible level too. So, we recommended to our head office in Chennai to seize its machines and stop the illegal operation,” he said.
Subsequently, the member-secretary of TNPCB has accepted the recommendation and issued an order to seize the machines. Since, the seizure could be done only by the revenue department, the order has been forwarded to the revenue officials, he added. tnn