A textile processing park planned at Cuddalore by Southern India Mills' Association (SIMA) will ensure that industries comply with all the norms of the Central and State governments, the association said, in the wake of recent protests against the park.
T. Rajkumar, chairman of the park, told The Hindu, that the project, which is supported by the Central and State governments, will not draw water from the ground when the proposed desalination plant is commissioned. Also, effluents from the textile clusters in the State will not be brought by pipeline to the Cuddalore park for discharge, as feared by some sections of people.
Mr. Rajkumar explained that the SIMA textile processing park with 10 textile processing units will come up on 237 acres at Periyapattu village in Cuddalore district in the third phase of the SIPCOT industrial park there. The units will need about 10 mld (million litres a day) of water for treatment. Though five borewells have been sunk at the park as part of the project, the plan is to take the complete requirement from the proposed desalination plant when it is set up.
The Central government provides 40 % of the project cost and the State government will extend 9 % for the processing park. The promoters of the park will contribute 51 %. The association, which mooted the project in 2005, had finalised on Cuddalore as the location because of water availability. Further, marine discharge of treated effluents is an accepted technology worldwide and it can be implemented here.
The Central and State governments will monitor whether the discharged effluent meets the norms. The effluent will not affect marine life in that area, he said. Even if one unit does not meet the standards, it will be shut from the rest of the system. “We are trying to have online control too,” he said.
Earlier too the association had distributed pamphlets to the villagers explaining the details of the project and it has now submitted the required information to the government.
The current challenge is how to draw water for the daily requirement till the desalination plant is set up. If this can be resolved, five units will commence operations in a year. The State Government has agreed to give water from the second phase of the industrial park as a temporary measure. The desalination plant is expected to be ready in two years, he added.
The textile park will create 5,000 direct jobs and create more indirect jobs.