Even though iPhone parts maker Tata said recent water samples collected inside its factory in Hosur, India, showed no signs of contamination, Reuters reports that local health officials are still investigating complaints from nearby farmers. Here are the details.
Tata again under scrutiny
Last month, Apple supplier Tata was warned of a possible closure at one of its iPhone component plants in India, after the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board alleged that wastewater from the facility had contaminated groundwater in adjacent farms.
Earlier this week, Tata said the regulator had abandoned new measures against the plant, after the company filed its response and addressed the issues raised in the warning notice:
On Tuesday, Tata told Reuters in a statement that the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board had confirmed that the company “has satisfactorily addressed all the queries mentioned” in the warning notice and “abandoned any further course of action on this issue.”
However, it appears that the scrutiny surrounding the alleged contamination is not over yet. Based on a new report from Reuters“District health officials have been conducting their own investigation since at least late May after complaints from farmers about the plant, which opened in 2021 and makes iPhone back cases and some other parts.”
The investigation is examining whether liquid spilled from the factory affected nearby farmers, some of whom reported skin problems they attributed to contamination of their land.
In a bombastic tone, Reuters says that a government medical official stated that no such cases had yet been clinically established.
From the report:
A health inspection found that the discharge from the Tata plant had caused a “strong foul odor” and left water “unfit for animal consumption,” according to a May 27 letter sent by Anish Parvin, a government medical officer in Ullugurukkai village, where the plant is located, to the state Institute of Vector and Zoonoses Control in Hosur.
“Wastewater released by Tata Electronics… has accumulated on nearby agricultural land and is contaminating clean water present in nearby wells,” reads the letter, which is not public but was reviewed by Reuters. “It has also been reported that people are experiencing skin-related health problems due to this pollution.”
Reuters He also obtained a lab report showing that two water samples collected from nearby farms tested positive for E. coli, “bacteria found in wastewater that indicates fecal contamination of the water supply.”
The report also includes a tense standoff after a member of the farmers’ group entered Tata’s property to photograph a pond the group said contained sewage, prompting a security guard to recover a firearm from a vehicle.
Finally, ReutersThe account also includes a photo of a farmer holding a handful of cloudy green water collected from his field near the Tata factory, and says that neither Apple nor Tata responded to requests for comment on the new research.
read Reuters‘full report, follow this link.
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