Residents oppose setting up of sewage treatment plant at Jawadhu Hills in Vellore
Residents of Pennathur village near Vellore are protesting the construction of a new sewage treatment plant. They fear the facility will contaminate local groundwater and irrigation sources essential for their agricultural livelihoods.
Why it matters
This highlights the ongoing tension between urban infrastructure development and the environmental concerns of rural communities dependent on natural water resources.
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.
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