Recycling tannery waste

The United State Trade and Development Agency have signed an agreement by which it would provide $180,000 to the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) for carrying out a feasibility study for recycling and reusing wastewater from tanneries. The agreement was signed by the US Consul General, Bernard Alter, for USTDA and the chairperson of the TNPCB, Ms Sheela Rani Chunkath. According to Ms Chunkath, the study would also look at the problem of the total dissolved solids (TDS). Through the construction of twelve common and 194 individual effluent treatment plants, the leather industry in the State has been able to meet all the other parameters, according to her. However, meeting the standards of TDS has been found difficult. Pongalur N Palanisamy, the Tamil Nadu Minister for Youth and Pollution Control, said that while the expected TDS standard was 2,100 parts per million, the values achieved by the leather industry was between 7,000 and 15,000 ppm. If the study can find ways to deal with this problem then it will be good for the industry. Mr Alter said that 15,000 hectares in Tamil Nadu had been affected by tannery pollution. Anti-pollution measures can help an industry develop by protecting resources and the health of the workers.