20-10-2012, 04:49 PM
Noyyal - A Lost River
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Introduction
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 in to the Noyyal River . 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.
Hence the farmers refuse to use its water for irrigation.In this attempt we have gone through the various studies conducted in the noyyal river basin and effects of this water pollution in the agricultural land,livestock rearings and fisheries in order to access the reason behind the fact that why this river is being called as a lost river.
Noyyal
This River is a tributary of the Cauvery. It flows through Coimbatore, Erode and Karur districts. The Noyyal river basin covers a total area of 3510 km2. The length of Noyyal River is about 170 km from west to east. The average width of the basin is 25km. The annual rainfall is varied for this basin.The Noyyal is a seasonal river, which has good flow during the North-East and South-West monsoons. Apart from the monsoon periods, there is only scanty flow for most part of the year. The river supplieswater to several irrigation tanks located in and around Coimbatore town and downstream. Nearly 6,000 acres of cultivable land are irrigated using the river water.
Tirupur – Hosiery City of India
Tiruppur is a fast growing industrial city in Coimbatore district of Tamilnadu, also known as The ‘Banian City' of India. It is located on the bank of the Noyyal River.Cauvery. The hosiery industry in Tiruppur provides substantial contribution to the economy in the form of income, employment and foreign exchange generation.The rapid growth of the industry has resulted in serious environmental problems, especially from the bleaching and dyeing units. Hence there is evidence to suggest that these units extract considerable quantity of ground water from the peripheral areas and discharge the effluent without adequate treatment.The discharge of effluents has caused severe pollution of both the surface and ground water in the region and has also contaminated agricultural land. The disposal of untreated wastewater on land and the Noyyal River has affected the quality of surface water, ground water and the soil not only in Tiruppur but also in the downstream villages.
Pollution Load Generated by Tiruppur Textile Processing Units
The Water Technology Centre in Tamil Nadu says that Tirupur's textile industry uses bleaching liquids, soda ash, caustic soda, sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid, sodium peroxide, hypochlorite and various dyes and chemicals in textile wet processes. All this leads to the effluents and hence the water that flows in the river, to having a high salinity-sodicity content, which is a threat to crop yields if used for irrigation. Added that is the presence of heavy metals, which adds to the danger posed by the river water.