Farmers affected by the pollution of the Noyyal and waiting for compensation for more than 18 years can heave a sigh of relief.

The Madras High Court has directed the Central government to appoint chairman to the Loss of Ecology (prevention and payments of compensation) Authority for Tamil Nadu within a month.

The authority shall hold day-to-day sittings to clear all claims.

Over 28,000 farmers have been affected by the pollution caused by bleaching and dyeing units at and around Tiruppur.

The Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice R. Mahadevan passed the order on a petition by an affected farmer.

During the argument, counsel for the petitioner said the appropriate forum for deciding the compensation claims was the Loss of Ecology Authority. However, it was dysfunctional without a chairman.

The Bench said the authority had to be made functional to help out those who had been waiting for the compensation for long.

Source: TH