CONSERVATION OF NOYYAL RIVER IN TAMILNADU

Abstract

The Noyyal river basin covering 3510 km2 of catchment area flows through seven talukas namely Coimbatore, Tirupur, Avinasi, Palladam, Karur, Erode and Dharapuram. The Noyyal river used to be a perennial water source and archaeological evidence shows that civilization flourished on its banks between 300 BC and 300 AD. The Noyyal river, t tin recent decades has become a seasonal river. The river Noyyal is relatively small compared to other Indian rivers, but it has all the ingredients of riveting content between use and abuse, between desperate and sustainable development. The issues that confront the river Noyyal basin are limited water availability, multiple uses, severe industrial pollution, conflict of multiple interests and poor legal actions. A detailed examination of the river Noyyal basin has been done by documenting the current status, identifying the pressures and subsequently examination of the sustainability of river basin to provide for human needs and the ecosystem at large. This work provides baseline data on the river basin vital to assess progress towards meeting key conservation and sustainable use goals. A road map towards achieving the sustainable development effectively and utilization of the limited resources in the river Noyyal has been developed. An estimate is prepared for desilting and cleaning of the integrated tanks and reservoirs of river Noyyal basin for reclaiming ground water and soil quality. The unregulated water extraction from the river Noyyal catchment area without any regulation is to be strictly prohibited. The entire CETP project is an environmental mitigation measure for textile industry to control the effluent from textile industries by introducing Zero Liquid Discharge by recycling and reuse of waste water and solid generated in the industries. The recovered water from the evaporator as condensate and reused in the textile industry and the crystallized salts will also be reused by the textile industry. This unique project may set an example for resource savings and avoids effects of effluent with high TDS disposal into the river environment and thereby conservation of river Noyyal will be achieved to certain level of satisfactory. %,.. . In order to achieve the water quality standards in the polluted stretch of Coimbatore and Tirupur upto the point of confluence with river Cauvery measures of the river eco system ff are to be taken on urgent basis. For river Noyyal restoration certain environmental flow for carrying out the pollutants and maintains life of the riverine eco system are required. The industries along the river are strictly to be adhered the "Zero Liquid Discharge Plant with Reverse Osmosis System". The Cities sewerage waste water should be fully treated before discharging into the Noyyal river or the integrated tanks. The domestic sewage water proposed to be recycled and reused by the industries by installing the reverse osmosis system within the premises of textile industries and the same can also be utilized for irrigation purpose, since to minimize the fresh water consumption. Need for institutional restructuring of ground water regulations enforcement in all the river basin blocks has been detailed. The homogeneous approach and multi sectoral solution can only solve the environmental issues in the river and will improve the deteriorated farmers' life. All the river action programmes are become successful and yield very good desired results of environmental status in the river Noyyal. iv