TIRUCHY: Farmers' body on Tuesday opposed the upcoming textile park at Alangottai village near Mannargudi in Tiruvarur claiming that the industrial plan was against the Protected Agricultural Zone Development Act and it would affect the groundwater in the region, where agricultural activities are the main source of income to the people.
On February 22, the Minister TRB Rajaa laid the foundation for the textile park at Alangottai village in Tiruppalakudi panchayat near Mannargudi in Tiruvarur at an estimated cost of Rs 50 crore in a total area covered with 3.61 acre land. The minister, during the foundation stone laying ceremony, said that the upcoming textile park would generate employment for at least 2000 persons from the region, and it would uplift the lifestyle of the people.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, PR Pandian, president of the Coordination Committee of All Farmers Association, told the reporters in Tiruvarur that the concept of textile park would pave the way for industrialisation in the agricultural region.
“While Delta Districts are termed as the Protected Agricultural Zone and the GO has already been released, the establishment of such industry is against the regulation,” Pandian said.
He also said that the farmers from the region had already been protesting against the extraction of Hydro-Carbon, Methane and Coal projects, and they were on the verge of withdrawal. The new textile park would pave the way for other industries to enter the Delta region, he claimed.
“We learned that the upcoming textile park had not obtained the environmental clearance, and so going ahead with the project without the clearance certificate is illegal”, he claimed.
Meanwhile, Pandian also said that the textile park should have dying units and the release of effluents would mar the environment in the region and would certainly affect the groundwater, so the state government should immediately withdraw the project, he said.