The Hindu Business Line : Tirupur units to meet today on HC closure order

EVEN as the Madras High Court had ordered the closure of 660 dyeing/bleaching units in Tirupur for not showing any progress in setting up the reverse osmosis plant to treat effluents, the Dyers Association of Tirupur (DAT) has convened a meeting of its members tomorrow to discuss the issue.

DAT is the apex body representing the interest of the industry in the area.

Both the general body meeting of the DAT and also its members coming under the common effluent treatment plants (CETP) companies have been called to elicit their views on the part payment of 25 per cent of the cost of investment for the reverse osmosis plant installations, DAT sources said.

Notwithstanding the order on the closure of the dyeing units that have defaulted in the 25 per cent advance payment for the RO plant and machinery, there has been no word yet on the official action initiated by the State pollution control board (PCB) authorities to implement the court directive and most of the dyeing units operated as usual today.

With the next hearing posted to July 21, tomorrow's meeting of the dyers assumes importance and how many units would be in a position to meet out the payment schedule would be known at the meeting; the investment on RO facility would be between Rs 75 lakh and Rs.1.5 crore depending on the size of the dyeing house operations, the sources said.

In the meantime, a section of the bleaching units which too figure among the 660 units ordered closure, petitioned the district administration for exclusion from the mandatory setting up of reverse osmosis plants. These units, according to sources, have complained that most of the bleaching units operating at low investments would find it difficult to invest further on reverse osmosis plants which required huge capital. The bleaching units numbering 150 in Tirupur are already on strike seeking revision in their job work rates.

The fallout of the High Court order may not be felt immediately in view of the fact that of the 737 dyeing and bleaching units in Tirupur, the closure is applicable only to 660. This means that 77 units which have already either installed the RO plants or are in the processing of installing one and thus allowed to operate would be working anyway.

These units, most of them having higher capacity, would be able to offer their spare capacity for job work. This way the processing activity for the near term would not come to a standstill, though it may cause delay in executing the job work for the garment industry placing orders with the wet processors.

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