Residents of Pennathur village, which comes under Anaicut panchayat union near Vellore Corporation, have been opposing the setting up of a new Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) in the village, fearing ground water pollution in surrounding farming villages.

At a public hearing organised by the district administration on the proposed plant, residents said that more than 700 families reside in the village in the foothills of the Jawadhu Hills. Most of the families depend on agriculture and dairy farming. 

The new STP will be built to treat sewage water in Mettupalayam hamlet to treat waste and other contaminated water collected from households in the town. “The new treatment plant should be built away from the village to prevent pollution of groundwater in the area. As most of the farmers depend on borewells and lakes, such pollution will ruin their livelihood,” said V. Ramu, a farmer.

Affected residents said that two lakes and a few ponds in the village provide farmers with much-needed water for irrigation. Residents said that the establishment of the sewage treatment plant near water bodies and farmland will affect water quality in the area. Pollution of groundwater and surface water will impact farming in these villages, which covers at least 800 acres under cultivation.

Also, water for household consumption comes from these water bodies in the villages. Local panchayats have sunk deep borewells around the lakes to pump water to Over Head Tanks (OHTs) in these two villages for domestic consumption. 

Panchayat officials said that the proposed plant will be set up on a three-acre plot at the border area of the village under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) at a cost of ₹5.8 crore. The new plant will treat wastewater, mainly from households in the town and surrounding villages for a nominal fee from each household. Recycled water will be used to water plants on stretches.

At present, panchayat officials said that most of the existing storm water drains in the town are used to discharge sewage from houses, which flows into nearby lakes and ponds, resulting in pollution. The new plant will stop the discharge of sewage into drains.