Death of goats triggers agitation

Members of the public in the Annur area on Monday evening staged a road blockade following the death in the morning of more than 180 goats that had allegedly consumed stagnant water in a pond, which according to them was polluted by discharge of industrial waste from a nearby private casting unit, also involved in the manufacture of automobile chains.As people stood on the road with the dead goats lying all over, traffic stopped on the Sathyamangalam-Coimbatore Road. Police diverted traffic.

The people continued the agitation for hours demanding action against the industrial unit and also other units. They demanded relief and compensation for the goats that died. According to police, the goats had died at Oraikkalpalayam, Ganeshapuram and Kunnathur in the Annur police limits. Villagers said a number of casting units in the area were polluting water bodies and groundwater resources. They wanted pollution control measures to be initiated before the entire groundwater table got polluted.

Revenue officials, legislators from Mettupalayam and Avanashi, police officers and other officials held talks with the villagers and assured them that action would be initiated against the particular unit and that compliance with pollution control norms would be ensured.N. Kannan, Superintendent of Police, Coimbatore Rural, said doctors would determine the cause of the deaths in post-mortem examinations. Legal action would be initiated.

Police reinforcements were deployed in the area.

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