The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) has issued notices and is monitoring the mercerising units located on the banks of the Noyyal in the district. According to an official of the board, the district has hardly any textile processing units and only a handful of mercerising units. The local bodies have also been asked to monitor discharge of sewage into the Noyyal. Based on a complaint filed by the Coimbatore Consumer Cause in January this year with the district administration and the TNPCB on the pollution in the Noyyal, a team of officials from the board conducted a detailed study of the river that runs for 160 km, including 60 km in Coimbatore District and 50 km in Tirupur District, and joins the Cauvery in Karur District. According to the report submitted by the board, the river has 34 rivulets, two major dams across it, and 23 check dams. Apart from sewage the enter the river from several towns, cities and hamlets, industrial waste also gets into it, from sectors such as hotels, jewellery and textiles. Samples were taken at different locations and tested. The TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) level was found to be 70 at Kooduthurai where the river starts, 1,500 near the Selvasinthamani tank, and 1,300 at Nanjundapuram in Coimbatore. Vanitha Mohan, Managing Trustee of Siruthuli, said the board should take steps to bring down the TDS level. “We need to address it on a war footing as we are slowly poisoning our water sources,” she said. According to K. Kathirmathiyon, secretary of Coimbatore Consumer Cause, pollution by the Government agencies should be stopped. The board should have a continuous watch on the industries. “It is not enough to desilt the water bodies. Pollution should be stopped and the board should take action, even if there is no complaint, against the polluting industries,” he said.