Burning issue, consumption of firewood in the garment clusters of Tirupur

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Burning Issue

Burning IssueA pilot study on the

consumption of firewoodin the garment clusters

of Tirupur

PrakruthiMonograph SeriesNo.1/2009

PrakruthiE n a b l i n g S u s t a i n a b i l i t y

TM

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Study on the consumption of firewood in the garment clusters of Tirupur

Burning IssueA pilot study on the consumption of

firewood in the garment clusters of Tirupur

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Burning Issue

Burning IssueA pilot study on the consumption of firewood in the garment clusters of Tirupur

© 2009 Edition, first

A study undertaken by

PrakruthiPrakruthiPrakruthiPrakruthiPrakruthi43, II Cross, Ramaya Layout,St. Thomas Town PostKammanahalli, Bangalore - 560 084Karnataka, INDIA

Tel: +91 80 25438935/36URL: www.prakruthi.org

Printed at National Printing Press, Bangalore

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Contents

Foreword 5

Introduction 6

Firewood as energy source 8

Impact of firewood usage 12

Legality of wood-cutting 16

Firewood consumption in Tirupur garment cluster 18

Field Observations 28

Findings, Recommendations and Conclusion 34

Acknowledgments 39

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ForewordOne of the key issues identified in the book Knitted Together published

by Solidaridad and Partners in Change in 2006 was the enormousconsumption of wood in Tirupur. The wood is mainly used for the boilersin the dyeing processes. As Prakruthi is interested in initiating a projecton reducing carbon emission and energy for sustainable development ofthe garment cluster of Tirupur, a collation of issues around woodconsumption was proposed to be carried out by Prakruthi, with supportfrom Solidaridad, in the form of a study report.

The study sought to find out how much wood is being consumed inthe Tirupur knitwear industry; what are the environmental, economicaland social issues involved with cutting down trees; what are thestakeholders’ viewpoints and the convergences and divergences in theseviewpoints, and what are the possible alternatives for environmentallysustainable garment manufacturing.

Solidaridad was happy to be part of that exercise and supported aconsultative process in which stakeholders such as farmers; wood-cutters;representatives from the dyeing units; representatives from the firewoodsales points; representatives from the association of commission agentsfor firewood; representatives of trade unions (AITUC, INTUC, HMS,ATP) and of NGOs (SAVE, CARE and Karnam); research scholars, andwriters took part.

What is presented here is an edited version of the long study concludedby Dr. Parthiban and made into a power point presentation for the multi-stakeholder consultation.

We hope that a public discussion would be generated by this studyand that viable alternatives could be found to ensure a sustainable planet.

Dr. Shatadru ChattopadhyayDirector, South and South East Asia, Solidaridad

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IntroductionWhen we decided to undertake such a study as part of our ongoing

involvement in the Tirupur garment clusters, our major concern was thequestion of pollution and denuding of foliage. We were little preparedfor the kind of resistance to the various stakeholders imparting reliableand quality information. As a result, it took us many a hand and muchmore time than anticipated.

Extensive use of firewood in the garment cluster of Tirupur withoutany planned afforestation programmes in place is a cause for concern. Inorder to understand the impact of firewood usage, we undertook a studyto identify the amount of firewood consumption in garment industries inTirupur; to trace the sources of firewood used; to find the types of firewoodused, and to explore the socio-political dynamics of firewood market.

The methodolgy employed was a combination of interviews and fieldobservation. It included field trips to the main sources of firewood, weigh-bridges at the entry points for lorries carrying firewood, and interviewswith brokers and agents involved in firewood marketing in Tirupur andKangayam, and some workers in timber industries.

There was resistance on the part of the respondents while answeringqueries. This study is limited as it lacks verifiable figures on the actualuse of firewood and its sources on account of the absence of records ofany kind that pertained to the quantities of firewood used in the Tirupurgarment cluster and where they were sourced from. Many of therespondents were unwilling to be quoted.

All the firewood that comes into Tirupur has to pass throughweighbridges. There are six entry points through which the lorries comeinto Tirupur. There is a ring road for the lorries to branch out to factories.Therefore, it made the task of collecting data on consumption of firewood

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difficult. Attempts to get records from the weighbridges were not successfulas their owners declined to share them.

Efforts to source information from the Pollution Control Board (PCB)were also not fruitful as their focus is more on controlling water pollutionand less on pollution from firewood. Spokespersons from the PCB werenot willing to share any records or be quoted and, in fact, admitted thatthey had made no efforts to find out where the firewood was comingfrom as it was not part of their focus.

The interviews however yielded more or less uniform responsespertaining to the quantity of firewood consumed annually. There were,however, conflicting responses to questions on where the firewood wasbeing sourced from. A very small number of the people interviewed saidlarge trees were being cut, while the rest reiterated that only shrubs growingon marginal lands and dry tank beds were being cut.

The stakeholders know that they have to go in for massive plantationof trees like velam, karuvelam, and veli. They are also aware of the problemsthat are inherent in the use of firewood and there is agreement on theneed to find alternatives. There was also willingness on the part of thepeople to explore and find ways to minimize the quantities of firewoodused, if alternatives could not be found.

The study is being published as a booklet in order to generate a publicdebate on the issue so that a planned afforestation programme that wouldbenefit both the environment and the garment clusters could beimplemented.

Pramod JohnExecutive Director

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Firewood as energy sourceUnlike most energy sources, wood is a renewable fuel source. New

trees are continually growing. For many people, wood has the advantageof being readily available, can be easily cut and is relatively inexpensive.

Growing awareness of wood fuels as a potentially environment-friendlysource of energy is currently leading to renewed interest in wood energyand increasing number of initiatives and projects. In general, the directcost of energy from wood is greater and, in some cases, substantially greaterthan the direct cost of energy from conventional fossil-fuel-based systems.Based on projected international trends of the pre-tax cost of oil andother fossil fuels, it appears probable that this will remain the case forsome time unless an unexpected breakthrough can produce an immediateand substantial reduction in the cost of bio-fuels. A piece of hardwoodemits more energy than a piece of softwood because it is denser. However,the volatile oils in some softwood can increase the heat output.

Environmental benefits

Dry wood is a relatively environmentally clean fuel. It is low in sulphuremissions and leaves little ash residue when burnt in conventional woodheaters that comply with certain international standards such as theAustralian Standard (AS 4013).

Plantation firewood is a potential renewable energy source as it canbe readily re-grown, especially with those species that will coppice fromcut stumps.

It can also be argued that burning plantation firewood is carbon-neutral provided the trees are re-grown, as carbon released into theatmosphere during the combustion process is counteracted by theequivalent amount of CO2 (carbon dioxide) being absorbed by the nextcrop of trees.

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The use of native species can also provide environmental benefitssuch as an increase in biodiversity, improvement in remnant bush landareas and habitat for native fauna. Firewood plantations can be used tohelp alleviate land management problems such as erosion, salinity andrising water tables and nutrient runoff into streams.

Indutrial sectors ussing firewood In India

The major industrial sectors that use firewood are tea, timber, tobacco,several small-scale units.

Major factories of tea plantations and bought leaf factories (BLF) relyon firewood for converting the green leaf tea into made black verson.Coonoor region of Tamil Nadu is the major tea-growing belt in SouthIndia. The total energy requirement to produce one kilogram of madeblack tea is between 1.4 and 2.0 kilograms of dry firewood. Tea produc-tion during the year 2007, according to the Tea Board of India, TamilNadu has been estimated at 97.7 million kilograms and, therefore, theconsumption of fire wood would be in the region of 1.7 lakh tonnes ayear.

Likewise, the timber industry is also a high consumer of firewood. Ina World Wide Fund for Nature study conducted in 1996, it held theinternational timber trade as “the primary cause of forest degradation.”Timber is used to make furniture, plywood, in the shipping industry andin the construction industry. India imports timber from South East Asianand African countries. As against an annual requirement of 64 millioncubic metres (excluding fuel wood), the domestic supply of wood is only43 million cubic metres from all sources, making the import of wood andwood products the main source of supply. Therefore, most of the woodused in the timber industry does not come from within the country.

India is the world’s third largest producer of tobacco, making it anextremely important commercial crop that provides livelihood to 27 millionpeople engaged in tobacco farming. Firewood is needed to cure tobaccoleaves, so wood used for tobacco curing is a major cause of environmentaldamage. Brazil, India, the Philippines and most of Africa (exceptZimbabwe) use wood in tobacco industries.

Charcoal is required for many heavy and medium industries. Theiron and steel industries alone need about 258 million cubic meters ofcharcoal while the production was about 260 million cubic meters nearlya decade ago, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (USA).The consumption of charcoal in India has increased over the years along

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along with increased production. Approximately 7 to 10 kilograms ofwood is used to make 1 kilogram of charcoal. Among the Asian countries,India is among the top three consumers of charcoal.

Firewood from species such as Prosopis Juliflora (a native thorny aridplant species) and bamboo is burnt down and smoked in order to producecharcoal. This industry is centred in Ramnad district of Tamil Nadu andplaces surrounding it. Charcoal is transported mainly to Maharastra,Kolkata and Indore. According to Dr. Sai Bhaskar Reddy, in India: MakingCharcoal from Prosopis Juliflora written for Terra Preta (Intentional use ofcharcoal in soil), because of climate change the quantum of annual rainfallhas come down from over 800 mm to less than 600 mm in the last 50years. As a result, cultivation of paddy has come down and people havebecome more and more dependant on the meager groundwater resources.The present scenario is that most of the paddy fields are left fallow andthe soil has turned saline/alkaline. In this soil, Prosopis Juliflora growsabundantly.

The plywood industry was started more than 75 years ago on a verymodest scale. The Indian plywood industry sources state that in 2001 theproduction of plywood was 14.61 metric tonnes until 2008. This is adrastic reduction from the quantity produced in the previous decade.(source: http:// www.fippi.org/plywoodindustry.htm)

About 80 per cent of matchwood in the country is supplied by Keralaand 17 per cent by Tamil Nadu, which account for 95 per cent of thematch-box production (of around two billion match boxes per month).Mr V.V. Rajan of Vasan Match Works, Gudiyatam, who is also the Secretaryof the North Arcot District Small Scale Match Manufacturers Association,says there has been a steady depletion of match wood resources and theproblem can be resolved only by raising new matchwood plantations inTamil Nadu. A recent study paper by the Forest College and ResearchInstitute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Mettupalayam,Coimbatore, on the economics of growing “yellow matti” trees in theregion, has pointed out that if the full demand of the match-box sectorhas to be met, at least 6,000 hectares of plantations every year should becultivated in Tamil Nadu. It is estimated that for producing one bundleof match boxes (600 boxes), two kilograms of wood is needed, and formaking 2 to 2.5 lakh match bundles, nearly 4,000 tonnes of wood permonth is required.

The current supply of matchwood from Tamil Nadu ranges between100 and 250 tonnes per month and to fully feed the Tamil Nadu match-

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box industry for producing one crore bundles per month, the requirementof matchwood is said to be around 10,000 to 12,000 tonnes per month

The paper production sector is one of the biggest consumers of wood.It takes about 2.7 kilograms of wood, 130 grams of calcium carbonate, 85grams sulphur, 40 grams chorine and 300 litres of water to produce onekilogram of paper. According to the 8th International Trade Fair &Conference on Pulp, Paper & Conversion Industries 2007 conducted bythe paper industry in India, in 2005–06, 7.2 million tonnes of paper wasproduced and it will increase over the coming years. Mostly bamboo treesare used in making paper and the cropping time of a bamboo tree isabout three years.

The wood that is used as packing material is taken from waste woodand soft wood and the pulp obtained is compressed and made into planks.Solid Wood Packaging Materials (SWPM) is defined as “wood packingmaterials other than loose wood packing materials, used or for use withcargo to prevent damage, including but not limited to dunnage, crating,pallets, packing blocks, drums, cases and skids.”

However, wood packing materials made of wood-based products suchas plywood, particle board, oriented strand board or veneer that havebeen created using glue, heat and pressure of a combination thereof areconsidered sufficiently processed to have eliminated the risk associatedwith raw wood (source: http://www.mtc.com.my/current/ispm.htm).

According to garment industry sources, unlike other small scaleindustries, over 100 tonnes of firewood are required for the 120 steamcalendaring units while it is 300 tonnes for the 250 compacting unitsevery day. Based on the capacity of the dyeing factory, between two andsix tonnes of firewood are required everyday for each factory. Put together,over 2,000 tonnes of firewood are required. However, the calendaringmethod is not in vogue at present and compacting is used often forgarments. The major source of firewood for Tirupur comes from Ramnadand its surrounding districts. And since the wood from the species ‘velam’and ‘karuvelam’, has a high calorific value when used as firewood, thegarment industry of Tirupur prefers to use the wood derived from thesetrees as their fuel.

In Ramnad district, the palm trees that have completed their lifecycleare cut and used in the brick kilns to fire bricks. The wood of the palmand coconut trees do not have high calorific value. It does not burn butsmokes for days together which is ideal for brick making. Therefore,brick kilns generally use coconut and palm tree trunks as their fuel.

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Impact of firewood usage

Wood ashes

Dan Sullivan, soil scientist with the Oregon State University ExtensionService, describes the importance of wood ashes for the rejuvenation ofsoil:

Wood ash has long been recognized as a valuable substance. Manycenturies ago, ancient Roman scientists and scholars documented thevalue of returning ash to the land. Wood ash increases the pH of thesoil and thus increases the yield of acid sensitive crops. Wood ash isfound useful in home gardens, in compost pile or as a pest repellent.In the 18th century, the benefits of ash-derived potash, or potassiumcarbonate, became widely recognized. North American trees werefelled, burned and the ash was exported to Great Britain as ‘potashfever’ hit. In 1790, the newly-independent United States of America’sfirst patented process was a method for making fertilizer from woodash (U.S. patent number 1: “An improved method of making pot andpearl ash). For the home gardener, however, wood ash can be a valuablesource of lime, potassium and trace elements.

Sullivan further states:

Since wood ash is derived from plant material, it contains most of the13 essential nutrients the soil must supply for plant growth. Whenwood burns, nitrogen and sulfur are lost as gases, and calcium,potassium, magnesium and trace element compounds remain. Thecarbonates and oxides remaining after wood burning are valuableliming agents, raising pH, thereby helping to neutralize acid soils.

Where soils are acidic and low in potassium, wood ash is beneficialto most garden plants except acid-loving plants such as blueberries,rhododendrons and azaleas. The fertilizer value of wood ash depends

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on the type of wood burnt. As a general rule, hardwoods such as oakweigh more per cord and yield more ash per pound of wood burned.Hardwood ash contains a higher percentage of nutrients than ashfrom softwoods such as Douglas-fir or pine. Hardwoods produceapproximately three times as much ash per cord and five times asmany nutrients per cord as softwoods.

Both types of ash contain enough calcium and magnesium to reducesoil acidity (increased soil pH) slightly. Nearly half a kilogram of woodash per year is recommended for each shrub and rose bush. Lawnsneeding some lime and potassium can also benefit from wood ash. Incompost piles, wood ash can be used to help maintain a neutralcondition, the best environment to help micro-organisms break downorganic materials. If used judiciously, wood ash can be used to repelinsects, slugs and snails, because it draws water from the bodies ofinvertebrates (source: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/news).

High levels of ashes will be detrimental for the plants as the wood ashis more alkaline in nature. And the alkaline soils generally will not benefitfrom ash application. Alkaline soils are not suitable for agriculturalproduction. Due to low infiltration capacity, rain water stagnates on thesoil easily and, in dry periods, irrigation is hardly possible. Agriculture islimited to crops tolerant to surface water logging (e.g.: rice, grasses).Continual use of ash in this way may increase the soil pH too much oraccumulate high salt levels harmful to plants. However, when wood ashis used cautiously it can yield a number of benefits for the farmers (source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkali_soils). The used wood ash from theTirupur industries can also be exported after proper processing as manureor fertiliser for gardens as well as for agriculture to yield economicbenefits.

Firewood and deforestation

The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development(UNCED) in 1992 defined deforestation as “land degradation in arid,semi-arid, and sub-humid areas resulting from various factors includingclimatic variations and human activities.” The effects of deforestationcan be categorised in three ways, namely, environmental effects, localsocial effects, and global social effects. Many of the environmental effectscontribute to the severity of the social problems. It therefore becomesimperative to understand the environmental effects of deforestation andhow they contribute to the social effects of deforestation.

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Environmental effects

Deforestation leads to the following environmental effects:

Desiccation of previously moist forest soil.

Dramatic increase in temperature.

Desertification of moist humid regions.

No recycling of water.

Less carbon dioxide and nitrogen exchange.

Soil erosion.

Global warming.

Flooding and drought

Wood from trees is mainly used to make furniture, paper, match boxesand packing materials apart from being used as firewood in garment, teaand brick-making industries. However, a bulletin issued by the ReserveBank of India in May 2006 states that there is a negative growth of 5.6 inwood and wood products, furniture and fixtures. This data shows thatdeforestation is being brought under control and, therefore, theconsumption of wood and wood products has reduced (Manorama YearBook, 2007, p. 524).

Some researches show that, in India, deforestation has taken place inthe southern part of the Western Ghats which falls within Coimbatoredistrict.1 However, the position of deforestation globally shows that it isthe highest in Africa rather than in Asia and South America. Therefore,it can be concluded that major alarming deforestation has not occurredin Asian countries including India (source: http://www.unu.edu/ unupress/unupbooks/uu17ee/uu17ee06.htm). In recent years, although there hasbeen an increase in deforestation rates (see graph below) in almost all

Source: http://www.folkecenter.net/mediafiles/folkecenter/technologies/

Graph 1:deforestation rates

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tropical countries, India is not threatened by deforestation because theconsumption of wood is balanced by afforestration/ preservation of forestsand trees.

Effects of smoke

The ecological impact of large-scale firewood collection andconsumption raises a number of environmental questions. Burning solidfuel yields particulate pollution – solid particles smaller than a red bloodcells which have been implicated in 30,000 deaths in the US and 2.1million deaths worldwide per year. “Particulate pollution is the mostimportant contaminant in our air ... we know that when particle levels goup, people die.”2 Indeed, wood smoke is chemically active in the body 40times longer than tobacco.3

In the information notes for farming forestry (February 2004 –Department of Primary Industries), the authors say that it can also beargued that burning plantation firewood is carbon neutral, provided thetrees are re-grown as carbon released into the atmosphere during thecombustion process is counteracted by an equivalent amount of carbondioxide being absorbed by the next crop of trees and more growing trees.

Burning of firewood has both advantages as well as disadvantages.The disadvantages of burning firewood like emission of smoke,deforestation and wood ashes look as though it is such a detrimentalfactor for the environment and mankind. However, if the issue is lookedinto deep enough it will end up presenting a host of benefits andpreventable measures for the detrimental effects.

Notes1 C.S. Jha, C.B.S. Dutt, and K.S. Bawa, Deforestation and Land Use Changes inWestern Ghats, India, Current Science, Vol. 79 (Jul 2000), No. 2, p. 2312 Joel Schwartz, Ph.D., Harvard School of Public Health, E Magazine, Sept./Oct. 20023 Wm. A Pryor, Persistent Free Radicals in Woodsmoke: An ESR Spin Trapping Study,Free Radical Biology and Medicine 1989, 7(1): pp. 17-21.

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Legality of wood-cuttingThe Indian Forest Act, 1927 was largely based on previous Indian

Forest Acts implemented under the British. The first and most famouswas the Indian Forest Act of 1878. Both the 1878 Act and the 1927 Actsought to consolidate and reserve the areas having forest cover, orsignificant wildlife, to regulate movement of forest produce, and dutyleviable on timber and other forest produce. It also defines the procedureto be followed for declaring an area to be a Reserved Forest, a ProtectedForest or a Village Forest. It defines what a forest offence is, what are theacts prohibited inside a Reserved Forest and penalties leviable on violationof the provisions of the Act.

The trees used in the garment industries are cut with the permissionof the Government as required under law as also the use of trees felledwhile widening roads. Since it is the velam, karuvelam and veli trees whichare used mostly in garment industries, farmers cultivate these trees intheir own agricultural lands which suffer for want of water. Althoughthere are some incidences of illegal cutting of trees for firewood, it isminimal. There is no published evidence that Tirupur garment industryuses wood procured illegally as firewood.

In 1995, T N Godavarman Thirumulpad filed a writ petition with theSupreme Court of India to protect a part of the Nilgiris forest fromdeforestation by illegal timber felling (W P [Civil] No 202 of 1995, T NGodavarman Thirumulpad vs Union of India, Supreme Court of India;Down to Earth, ‘Interview between T N Godavarman Thirumulpad andSurendranath C’, August 31, 2002). The Supreme Court clubbed theGodavarman case with another writ petition relating to similar issues(W P [Civil] No 171 of 1996, Environment Awareness Forum vs State ofJammu and Kashmir) and expanded its scope from ceasing illegaloperations in particular forests into a reformation of the entire country’s

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forest governance and management. In its first major order in theGodavarman case on 12 December 1996, the Court inter alia redefinedthe scope of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, suspended tree-fellingacross the entire country, and sought to radically reorient the licensingand functioning of forest-based industries. Hence, India imports most ofits timber from South East Asian and African countries.

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Firewood consumption inTirupur garment cluster

Tirupur and the garment industry

Tirupur is now a district in Tamil Nadu in southern India. Animportant trade centre of India, Tirupur is known by many names: dollarcity, hosiery city and banian city are some of them. The names that Tirupurhas earned is owed to the fact that it has gained international recognitionas the leading source for hosiery, knitted garments, casual and sportswear. Some of the world’s largest brands source their products from Tirupurand the city provides employment to over 300,000 people. The annualexport turnover of Tirupur is over Rs 12,000 crore.

The origin of the hosiery industry in Tirupur dates back to the1930s when it began as a cottage industry, supplying knitwear todomestic and local markets. This included the production of lowvalue cotton hosiery, mainly undergarments. The knitting industryof Tirupur began when Mr Gulam Kadar established the first babyknitting industry in the Kaderpet area of Tirupur. This was followedby the establishment of a second knitting unit by Ms. Chellammal,who set up the Chellammal Knitting industry.1

Tirupur, in many ways, was a place that was ideally suited to the settingup of weaving and knitting industries. Mr Samiappan, a pioneer in garmentbusiness, says, “Agriculture activities in this region diminished over aperiod of time, when crops failed regularly owing to lack of irrigation andother factors. The result was that people were left without work. In theirquest for employment, garment manufacture emerged as a sustainableoption as the dry climate of this region was conducive for the growth ofthis industry.” He continues, “Textiles are not new to this region. Even

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before the knitting industry picked up, the locals were weaving textiles byhand. Graduating to the knitted process was logical.”

The textile industry is one of the main pillars of the Indian economy.It constitutes about 14 per cent of industrial production, 20 per cent oftotal export earnings, 4 percent of GDP and direct employment to anestimated 35 million people.

By 1960, there were about 450 knitting units that serviced domesticdemand. The shift from supplying local markets to export began threedecades ago as a response to the shrinking domestic markets owing tofierce competition among the local manufacturers. Manufacturers inTirupur who are known for their entrepreneurial spirit then began tolook outwards for bigger markets and the first export from Tirupur wasmade to the US and Ghana by Mohan Knits through a Mumbai merchantexporter in 1972.2 This could not, however, be sustained and the exportbusiness in Tirupur picked up momentum only in the early 1980s. By1987, the export revenue of Tirupur had reached around Rs. 75 crore.Since then, exports from Tirupur have been growing steadily and duringthe year 2004, the total exports touched a figure of more than Rs. 5,000crore. Tirupur presently contributes 75 per cent of the total productionof cotton knitwear, which is exported from India.3

Table 1: Growth in knitwear exports from Tirupur

Year Qty Value Valuex 000 in US$ in crore Rs

1996 2,574 (47.87%) 5,443 (38.29%) 1,892 (38.16%)

1997 2,943 (46.54%) 6,042 (37.77%) 2,214 (37.81%)

1998 3,385 (49.63%) 6,168 (37.91%) 2,540 (37.79%)

1999 3,680 (48.52%) 6,897 (36.58%) 2,968 (36.55%)

2000 4,104 (49.58%) 7,616 (37.28%) 3,423 (37.29%)

2001 3,724 (51.87%) 7,186 (40.30%) 3,389 (40.30%)

2002 3,448 (52.83%) 6,667 (41.78%) 3,239 (41.78%)

2003 3,704 (54.57%) 7,935 (43.62%) 3,700 (43.61%)(Figures within brackets show % of Tirupur share to all India Exports)Source: Case study of Tirupur, www.unido.org

In terms of the total domestic production of cotton knitted garmentsof India, Tirupur accounts for about 35 per cent, Delhi for 10 per cent,

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Calcutta for 30 per cent and the rest is contributed by secondary centresthroughout the country.4 Apart from direct export from Tirupur, manygarment manufacturers also supply their products to merchant exportersin other places like Bombay, Delhi, Bangalore and Madras from whereexports take place.

Region dependent on garment manufacture

Tirupur and the areas around it are either directly involved with thetextile industry or support it in one way or the other. The neighbouringcity of Coimbatore is renowned for the manufacture of machine tools,pumps and yarn, which directly feed the textile industry. Nearby districtslike Karur and Erode have earned a reputation for manufacturing highquality bed linen, furnishings, etc. Karur also has processing units fornatural dyeing. “In view of increasing problems with infrastructure andlabour problems, the garment industry of Tirupur is expanding into theneighbouring areas such as Somanur, Avinashi, Palladam and Koduvai,and further into Udumalpet and Pollachi districts,” says, Mr Prem Durai,Managing Director, Prem Group Companies.

In view of the importance of infrastructure and institutional supportto sustain the garment industry of Tirupur and its continued growth,support mechanisms from government and financial institutions, as wellas social support required for the well-being of the labour force employedare in place. Some of the infrastructural and other needs that have beenrecognized and met are:

Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) has a full fledged officein Tirupur.

Several leading public and private sector banks have establishedbranches in Tirupur. Financial institutions such as Small IndustriesDevelopment Banking Institution (SIDBI) have set up base inTirupur to facilitate industrial financial support.

Five primary health centres (PHCs), 12 colleges and 24 schoolsprovide education and build human resource skills.

National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) has established abranch in Tirupur to provide training for fashion design skills.

A water project with an investment of Rs.1000 crore to addressdomestic and industrial requirements is being implemented throughNew Tirupur Development Authority.

In a bid to explore alternate energy options, a wind mill project togenerate four megawatts of power has been initiated by the Tirupur

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Export Knitwear Industrial Complex with an investment of Rs 24crore.

There are eight common effluent treatment plants, out of whichfive are through the NTDC. The five units have reverse osmosissystems for complete treatment of industrial effluents.5

How the garment cluster operates

Tirupur has very few backward integrated production houses. Themanufacture of garments is broken into stages and each stage is a specializedone. Most industries outsource several processes to specialized units. Thegarment cluster in Tirupur consists of around 5,000 units which areconnected in one way or the other to the activities of the textile valuechain. This helps them keep the competitive edge over pricing, a vitalfactor while servicing international markets.

Table 2: Spread of units in the textilevalue chain in Tirupur cluster

Value Activities NumberChain of units

1 Knitting/Stitching units 2500

2 Dyeing and Bleaching 750

3 Fabric Printing 35

4 Embroidery 150

5 Other Ancillary Units 250

6 Compacting and Calendaring 200

Source: Background Study of Tirupur, Fair Wear Foundation, 2004

Processes within the value chain – how they work

Garment production can be split up into the following steps:

Cotton cultivation – from seed to plant to flower, and then cotton(and seed).

Ginning and spinning cotton – yarn manufacturing. This is theprocess of covering cotton into thread, or yarn.

Knitting process – machines convert the thread into fabric rolls.

Dyeing and bleaching process – clothes are bleached first as whitegarments and then coloured using dyeing process.

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Compacting and calendaring process – clothes are dyed andstraightened.

Cutting the cloth – by hand or machine, according to designs.

Stitching – clothes are stitched as garments, using machines.

Fabric printing – if required, logos and slogans are printed byscreen printing or other printing processes.

Embroidery – designs are made if required.

Labeling – labels of each brand are stitched on to clothes.

Checking – garments are checked for flaws, like small holes,imperfect colour, stitching errors, etc.

Ironing – garments are ironed for neatness.

Packing and shipment – garments are packed individually inpolythene covers and thereafter put in cartonnes and readied forshipment. They are transported to ports, loaded in containers andshipped to buyer/consumer destinations.

Tirupur – on the verge of an energy crisis?

Tirupur has come a long way from the days it was known for themanufacture of knitted garments for the low-end domestic market. Therange in Tirupur today can boast of high end T-shirts, women’s andchildren’s wear, catering to some of the biggest names world-wide. Thisrapid growth has, however, brought with it some major challenges. Chiefamong them are with regard to environment pollution, energyconsumption and the challenge of constantly looking for alternativesources of energy to address these problems. This study, by design, dealsonly with the challenges posed by the use of firewood, which is used inlarge quantities for bleaching, dyeing and steam calendaring.

Steam boilers – how they work

Processing of fabric or yarn is a multi-stage process and involves heatand power consumption in most of these processes. Main operationprocesses such as scouring, dyeing, sizing, mercerizing, steam calendaring,washing and drying need either steam or hot water.

The industry uses devices known as boilers for generating steam.A boiler consists of two principal parts: the furnace, which provides heat,usually by burning a fuel, and the boiler proper, a device in which theheat changes water into steam. In any textile industry, the boiler house isnormally situated in a central place and the steam generated from theboiler is transported to the units where it is used through pipes.

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The amount of steam that can be generated per hour depends uponthe rate of combustion of the fuel in the furnace and upon the efficiencyof heat transfer to the boiler proper. Since the rate of combustion of thefuel in a furnace is largely dependent upon the quantity of air available,sufficient supply of air is an important consideration in boilerconstruction.

Two types of boilers are most common — fire-tube boilers, containinglong steel tubes through which the hot gases from the furnace pass andaround which the water to be changed to steam circulates, and water-tubeboilers in which the conditions are reversed. Water is changed to steam inthese continuous circuits and is super-heated in transit. This additionalheating of the steam increases the efficiency of the power-generating cycle.A safety valve is used to prevent explosions by releasing steam if thepressure becomes too great.

Boilers consume the major chunk of fuel in any processing industry.Efficiency of a boiler depends upon minimization of various indirectlosses of the boiler so that amount of energy input in the boiler by burningthe fuel can be maximally utilized for generation of steam and cost ofsteam can be minimized.6

The textile industry accounts for about 9 per cent of the totalcommercial energy use in India. Firewood, coal, furnace oil and electricitymeet the process requirements in textile industry. The expenditure onenergy in most of the textile mills is about 10–15 per cent of the totalinput costs. With regard to Tirupur, the primary sources of energy areelectrical, firewood, furnace oil and high-speed diesel. And, the secondarysources are steam and thermic fluid.

Firewood and furnace oil are used in boilers to produce steam. Thereare about 1100 boilers in Tirupur including standby ones, 95 per cent ofwhich use firewood. The estimated annual firewood consumption is about525.085 million kg (2002). Furnace oil is used as fuel in boilers as well asin furnaces to heat the thermic fluid, which is used in the dryers andprinting units. The yearly furnace oil consumption of Tirupur is about30.72 million litres. High-speed diesel oil is used to run generators incase of grid power failure and the annual consumption is about 0.596million litres. The electrical energy and steam consumption of Tirupurdyeing sector is about 20.93 million kWh per year and 2.085 billion kgper year respectively.

There are there types of firewood used mainly – velam (azharditicaindica), karuvelam and souk (eucalyptus). These woods have more market

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value because of its capacity to produce more heat; therefore, more steamand less ash. They are also easily available in the locality. The marketvalue of these woods varies from Rs. 2200 to 2600. If it is a mixed one, itwill cost Rs. 2100 to 2300 because the size of the wood is dissimilar andvaries in producing heat. Analyzing the growth of the plants it has beenfound that velam and karuvelam may take six years to grow to be used asfirewood. Veli (thorny bush wood) takes only one year for firewoodcollection.

Share of energy consumption

The knitting and stitching units consume about 32.63 million kWhof electrical energy per year and the printing and other units consumeabout 35 million kWh and 0.293 billion kg of electrical energy and steamper year respectively. The dyeing units consume about 20.93 million kWhelectrical energy per year and consume 2.09 billion kg of steam per year.The total electrical energy consumption of Tirupur garment sector isabout 166.775 million kWh per year.

The bleaching and dyeing processes are heavily dependant on steamenergy, provided by the boilers which use firewood as fuel. The resourcesflow analysis for Tirupur town conducted by Lowe (2001) for AsianDevelopment Bank in 2001 shows that the firewood consumption inTirupur town is 437,760 tonnes per year. Present indicators point out thatfirewood consumption in Tirupur region is above 7,00,000 tones peryear.

Where does this firewood come from? Mr. Mathi, Secretary of theFirewood Commission Agents Association says, “Almost all the firewoodcoming to Tirupur is sourced from dried-up tank beds and marginal landsin nearby villages. We also get Government contracts to chop trees whenhighways are being widened or other civil works are undertaken. Thereis no deforestation.”

His view was endorsed by all the respondents who were approached.Notwithstanding this, it is probably in place to give thought to situationswhen these sources are not feasible, or when the required quantities arenot available. In view of the dependence of the industry on firewood,there is a strong likelihood of forests getting denuded. Efforts to get thisinformation, for obvious reasons were not fruitful.

While there have been several efforts to address the discharge ofeffluents and the pollution of ground water, as well as the River Noyyal,equal attention has not been paid to the issues arising out of the use of

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Diagram 1: Resource flow analysis of Tirupur Town*(Units: Water – 1000 litres per day; Electrical Energy – 1000 kWh per

year; others – tonnes per year)

Yarn

Knitting

Bleaching/Dyeing

Compacting

Finished Product

GarmentManufacturing

Finished Product

Printing

EE

EE, ST, WA

EE, ST

EE, ST, WA

EE, ST

EFF

EFF

EE - Electrical Energy

ST - SteamWA - WaterEFF - Effluent

*Lowe, E.A. (2001), Eco-Industrial Park Handbook for Asian Developing Countries,Report to Asian Development Bank.

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*Estimated values

Graph 2: Electrical energy consumption in Tirupur*

firewood, despite the existence of some studies which point very stronglyto the need for action on this front. More importantly, there have beenvery few efforts to find sustainable ways to supply the demand for firewood,as well as address the problems of GHG emissions from firewood usage.There is evidence to point to GHG emissions. Mr Velavan, in his paper,says:

Graph 3: Steam consumption pattern in Tirupur*

*Estimated values

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The major sources of GHG emissions are the direct emission fromfirewood and furnace oil consumption and indirect contributionthrough electrical energy consumption.

Table 3: Estimated values of GHG emissions fromTirupur textile sector

No. Source GHG emission

1 Firewood 0.722 million tonnes of CO2 per year

2 Electrical energy 0.047 million tonnes of CO2 per year

3 Furnace oil 0.091 million tonnes of CO2 per year

Source: Extract from research paper by Mr R Velavan, Research Associate, School ofEnergy, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore.

These patterns amply demonstrate that the bleaching and dyeingprocesses are heavily dependant on steam energy, provided by the boilerswhich use firewood as fuel. The resources flow analysis for Tirupur townconducted by Lowe (2001) for Asian Development Bank in 2001 showsthat the firewood consumption in Tirupur town per year is 437,760 tonnes.Present indicators point out that firewood consumption in Tirupur regionis above 7,00,000 tones per year.

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Field observationsOn the outskirts of Tirupur, at a weighbridge, there is a long line-up

of trucks. The drivers have alighted and are awaiting their turn for theirtrucks to be weighed. The trucks carry different commodities such ascorn, poultry feed, etc., but a majority of them carry firewood.

The trucks are filled with different varieties of wood and some ofthem also carry a mix of huge, medium and small logs, signifying that thewood has been sourced from different kinds of trees. The big logs areobviously from large mature trees, such as tamarind; some of the logshave numbers etched into them, indicating they have been sourced froma highway. The other, thin twig-like logs belong to the mullu veli andkaruvelam (local varieties of thorny bushes) species. The drivers revealthat they have been sourced from marginal lands and dry tank beds wherethey grow and where agriculture is not possible.

After being weighed, the trucks will go to pre-designated agents, whowill then direct them to different dyeing, bleaching and calendaring units,which use firewood for their operations. There is a sustained, daily demandfor large quantities of firewood in Tirupur. Firewood is the main sourceof fuel for dyeing, bleaching and calendaring operations. The firewood iscollected and transported to Tirupur from villages and areas near Salem,Ramnathpuram, Sivagangai, Thanjavur, Pudukottai, Cuddalore and Karur.

As indicated earlier, the most commonly used types of firewood arevelam, karuvelam and eucalyptus. These woods have more market valuebecause of their capacity to produce more heat, and therefore more steamand less ash. Mixed loads cost less as there is variation between woods inthe heat producing capacity. Smaller logs are preferred by firewood usersas they burn faster and more evenly and are therefore more cost-effective.

Juli Flora popularly known us ‘Babool’ in Hindi and ‘Karuvelam’ inTamil requires very little water and grows abundantly into a thorny bush,

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providing raw material for charcoal manufacturing and as firewood. Itis a livelihood option for many rural poor in the district. Juli Flora is acommon crop in waste lands, especially in states like Gujarat, Karnataka,Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Notwithstanding, or rather because of the high demand, there areseveral problems associated with the use of firewood, with regard toavailability and environmental impact. On the one hand, the demandfor firewood is high and to ensure timely supplies, firewood is sourcedfrom as far as 350 kms. This has, steadily over a period of time, steeplydriven the cost of firewood upwards, owing to high costs of transportation,thereby impacting the bottom lines of these units. Mr Samiappan,President of the Dyers Association of Tirupur (DAT) says, “Less than 10years ago, we were paying Rs.500 per tonne of firewood. Currently wepay Rs. 2500 per tonne, and even at that rate, firewood is sometimesdifficult to come by. Our profits come down owing to this. Almost 15per cent of our production costs go into purchase of firewood. Duringthe monsoons, we spend even more.”

There are fears that forests around the region might be getting erodedin order to keep up with the demand, which continues to grow in theabsence of any options to firewood for fuel. According to “AppliedIndustrial Ecology – a New Platform for Planning Sustainable Societies,”(2003) by Suren Erkman and Ramesh Ramaswamy, nearly half a milliontonnes (4,37,760 tonnes) of firewood, chopped from the nearby forests,are needed annually for steam calendaring, bleaching and dyeingoperations.

Mr. K.P. Natarajan, President, Tirupur Viraghu Commission VyaparigalSangham says, “Firewood is a vital requirement for sustenance of thegarment industry. The demand is growing as the industry grows, and weare finding it difficult to cope with the demand. To keep up supplies, weare now sourcing firewood from far away destinations. The prices arealso not steady and this causes hardship to us as well as consumers. Weunderstand concerns about deforestation, and would definitely welcomealternatives to firewood, if there were any.”

To understand firewood usage in Tirupur in all its dimensions, it isimportant to understand the background and importance of the garmentindustry, which sustains the entire town and the surrounding regions,and contributes greatly to the economy of the state and the country

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Firewood usage in garment sectorVarious supply chain channels have been involved in firewood usage

in the garment sector. Dyeing, compacting, washing and rotary printingare some of the major components of the supply chain. A completelyfinished product can come out successfully only if this process goes onsmoothly. Firewood is, in this process, used as a source of energy wherein99 per cent of source energy for this product is produced by it. Thoughsolar energy and power energy are utilized as alternative sources, it is usedmainly because of the compulsion of the buyers. However solar and powerenergy usage is not successful as far as Tirupur is concerned as thesecannot produce the required amount of heat so as to carry out the neededprocesses. Hence firewood is the ideal source of energy as if it only producesthe required amount of heat.

Dried branch of the coconut tree (thennai mattai), coconut shell(thenkaae kuduvai) and knitted cloth waste are also used as alternativesources of energy which sometimes replace the use of firewood wheneverthere is a shortage of firewood. Further, it costs less. But the fire producedby karuvelam burns for a long time and produces more heat. Thesealternative sources cannot compete with firewood as far as burninglongevity and amount of heat production is concerned. Moreover thesealternatives produce more smoke which causes environmental degradation.Particularly the pollution emitted through burning knitted cloth will becomparatively higher than firewood.

The very important thing is that the wood used as firewood for thevarious processes in the garment industry are not those banned by theforest department.

Types of fire wood and the kind of soil on which it grows

A handful of farmers in Tirupur and other parts of southern TamilNadu cultivate karuvelam exclusively for the garment industry. The lowrainfall, shortage of water and the condition of the soil are three majorreasons for the farmers to get involved in this occupation.

Karuvelam, mulluvele, velavela, vembu, unjal and the short thornyplants are the shrubs/trees used as firewood. The growth of these treesdepends directly on the nature of the soil. The trees grown in loose soil(Saralai), red loamy soil (semman) and clayey soil (kaliman) are of betterquality and are valued the highest as they will burn for a long time.Whereas the trees grown in sandy soil (Manal) and alluvial soil (vandalman) are not very strong and will burn out easily. Therefore, the cost ofwood from these types of trees is a little less.

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Karuvelam is the ideal tree for fire wood as it will burn for a long timeand it will produce adequate heat while burning. Hence karuvelam issold for a good price and there is always a demand for karuvelam tree.

Supply chain

Farmers grow the trees for firewood on their own land, temple landsor on the inside of tanks. However, most of firewood comes from treesthat are cut from common property resources, rather than from privateland.

The value of the firewood is not assessed by weighment at source (intonnes or kg). Rather, the middlemen (first in the supply chain) estimatethe value of the wood just by seeing the extent of the trees grown in anarea and its density. They employ wood cutters to cut the trees and thewages for the woodcutters varies from Rs 150 to Rs 250. The woodcuttersare from the local villages and have not migrated from other areas. Theydo not get adequate work during the monsoons as they cannot carry outtree-cutting during this season. The woodcutters are willing to grow firewood trees in Government-owned (poramboku) land.

The middlemen settle the cost of the firewood to the farmers in asingle instalment. Likewise, the wages for the woodcutters is alsoimmediately paid by the farmers.

The cut trees are weighed by the transport agents and be sold to thetraders at a ‘sales point’. The traders too pay up the cost of the firewoodin a single installment. The middle men (second in the supply chain) buyfrom the traders and sell to the factories whenever it is required. Themiddlemen collect their dues on credit basis after a month. Many labourersare employed by the factory. Particularly in the section where firewood isused, two labourers work in two shifts. But adequate safety measures arenot provided to them. Moreover they work in an environment of extremeheat.

It was noticed that children are not employed in this supply chain.The number of women employed in this occupation is very less as thenature of work is arduous.

Economics of firewood

About 350 loads of firewood are consumed per day in Tirupur region.Each load consists of 14 to 18 tonnes. The cost per tonne of wood is Rs2000 to Rs 3500 based on the thickness of the wood.

If, on an average, 5250 tonnes (350 loads X 15 tonnes) of wood isconsumed, the total transaction per day works out to Rs. 1,31,25,000.

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Cultivation and consumption of fire wood

It is only recently that farmers have started cultivating trees forfirewood. Most of the trees are found on common property as the seedswere planted in these areas by the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Mr.Kamaraj. However, the Government has stopped karuvelam cultivation.The Government has also not cultivated any trees for firewood. The treesgrown inside the tanks are uprooted by the Government as it consumes alot of water which decreases the water storage capacity of the tank. Hencethe Government has not initiated any effort to grow these trees insidetanks or on its edges.

As discussed above, 350 loads of firewood are consumed per day andat the same time no action has been initiated to cultivate the firewoodtrees. The imbalance between less cultivation and more consumptionwill soon lead to heavy shortage for fire wood which ultimately will affectthe entire garment sector’s business. No one has a viable plan to cultivatefirewood trees. Large areas of land around Tirupur area have becomewasteland because of shortage of water; these lands can be used for firewood tree cultivation.

Farmers’ association and firewood

Though there is a farmers’ association functioning in Tirupur, thewoodcutters and the farmers who cultivate the firewood trees are notincluded in this association. The farmers’ association does not promotefirewood tree plantation. Their opinion is that any sort of cultivationshould have a direct bearing with food production. Whereas, the molassesfrom the dyeing factory pollute the rivers as well as the ground waterwhich has turned the fertile land to wasteland. Hence, the farmers arereluctant to use the land for growing trees to support this business chain.

Middlemen and firewood

The middlemen assume all responsibilities from cutting the tree till itis supplied to the factory. The middlemen have their own association inTirupur. Whenever there is a demand for fire wood, they will ensure itssupply one way or the other. They will deliver the firewood as soon as thedemand is made over the telephone. The payment is made on creditbasis. Many middle men play the role of traders also. It is inevitable thatthey buy the firewood in bulk and store it in their godown. They are inconstant fear of shortage of firewood.

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Alternative sources

Electricity and solar energy are two alternatives to firewoodrecommended and have also been used as alternative for firewood. Thefactories too prefer these alternatives to firewood as it enables them to getinternationally recognized certification. Eight factory owners wereinterviewed for this study and they expressed their opinion that solarenergy and electricity are not producing the required heat which is neededto run the boilers in the garment business. Karuvelam firewood aloneproduces adequate heat for the boilers.

Thennai mattai (branches of the coconut tree), thennai kuduvai(coconut shell) and waste garment cloth are used as other alternatives forfirewood. These are available at cheap rates when there is an additionaldemand for firewood. However, all these alternatives do not burn for along time like karuvelam. Moreover, it produces more smoke which causesair pollution.

Hence this study shows that there is no viable alternative to firewoodfor the Tirupur garment cluster at the moment.

Firewood and greenhouse gas reduction

In a study on “Firewood and woody biomass and their role ingreenhouse gas reduction” for the Department of Primary Industries, Stateof Victoria, Australia, published in Agriculture Notes (April 2008 issue),the author clearly explained the role of firewood in minimizing airpollution. He argued that fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal fired electricityrelease carbon dioxide into the atmosphere during production andburning. He further argued that growing trees absorb most of the carbondioxide that is emitted during the harvesting, processing and burning ofthe firewood. These trees in return, release oxygen into the atmosphereas well as storing carbon, resulting in a reduction in greenhouse gasesand a virtually carbon neutral process.

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Findings, Recommendationsand Conclusion

Findings

Trees are cut for the purpose of firewood to be used in garmentindustries whereas new saplings are not planted in order to balancethe tree felling. The number of garment production units is proliferatingday by day which paves way for more consumption of fire wood.However the volume of tree plantation is not on par with the demandwhich is likely to create a shortage of natural fire wood in near future.However, since the trees used for fire wood are neither horticulturalnor cultivated trees, there is no deforestation.

The alternative energies, viz., solar energy and electricity are notadequate for the garment sector.

In addition to the garment sector, firewood is used in hotels, brickchambers and for household use.

Charcoal is used in workshops, ironing, and jewel making.

Firewood ash is not properly disposed of as it is dumped in the Noyyalriver.

There is no prevalence of child labour in the entire supply chain.

350 loads, that is 5250 tonnes, of firewood per day is consumed inthis area.

The price of firewood during the monsoon is scaled up as there iswater stagnation in tanks and cultivated areas thus preventing thecutting of the trees. Moreover the transport of the fire wood is alsodifficult which causes the price of the firewood to go up during therainy season.

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Only the middlemen assume the responsibilities from cutting treesto transporting the fire wood to the industry.

Farmers, wood-cutters, middlemen, drivers, weighing machineoperators, traders, proprietors, laborers are various stakeholders inthe supply chain.

Firewood is used in the following activities: dyeing, washing, compactingand rotary printing. Solar energy and electricity are not successfulalternatives for this industry.

The major quantity of firewood is drawn from places other than Tirupurdistrict.

Since Tirupur is known for its plethora of garment industries, themigrant labour force is constantly increasing and hence the release ofmore carbon is not uncommon here.

Recommendations

This study shows the urgent need for growing more number of treesin Tirupur region.

The proprietor, middlemen, etc. should be motivated to cultivate moretrees.

Government may motivate farmers to cultivate firewood trees onwasteland.

Since the standard of living of the labourers depending on the firewoodsupply chain for their livelihood is bad, a separate Board may beconstituted for their welfare.

Trees should be grown so as to reduce the carbon emission levels inTirupur and, at the same time, these trees can be used as firewood.

The companies which are into firewood consumption can adopt villagesand support farmers directly in the cultivation and procurement offirewood, thus creating an environment for increased profit for thecompanies as well as the farmers. This also involves the developmentof the community. Associations can be formed on both sides to ensuresmooth trade.

Awareness to farmers should be imparted on the shortage of woodthat might arise in the near future due to the high consumption offirewood in Tirupur garment Industry. An association of farmersproducing firewood can be formed. Farmers should be encouraged togrow more velam, karuvelam and veli trees towards creating sustainablewood production and also to improve the economic conditions of

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their community as these trees in recent years have evolved as “cashcrops”.

Increasing the boiler efficiency by improving the design of the boilers.

Reduce leakages in boilers.

Reduc the distance between the boilers and the point of usage ofsteam.

Co–generation: super heat steam to be used for power generation andthen after it becomes saturated steam use it for heat transfer.

Using a central steam generating system.

Consultation with stakeholders

The study on the consumption of firewood and the findings/recommendations were discussed with stakeholders at Tirupur. Some ofthe suggestions/recommendations that arose are:

No farmer can cultivate firewood on a large scale in the small area ofland that is available to him. Hence the Government should supportlarge scale cultivation.

As the buyer/ILO insists on certain standards of compliance in theindustry, ILO should be asked to pressurize the Government to supportlarge scale cultivation of karuvellam. Pressure can also be applied onthe Government through the Tirupur Steering Group.

The situation in the districts where firewood is grown should be studiedwith reference to the livelihood options that can be created for thepersons involved in the supply chain at this point. The situation isserious as farmers/cultivators are abandoning their occupation andmigrating to Tirupur to work in the garment sector.

As the firewood supply chain touches the lives of about 50,000 to75,000 persons, every effort should be taken to increase the cultivationof firewood.

One suggestion was to use natural gas as fuel. Although it is economicalto use, initial investment is high and is not feasible for small andmedium enterprises.

Briquettes could be produced but it is a little expensive.

Vast tracts of land are lying fallow in Ramanathapuram district.Cultivation in these lands should be supported by the Government.

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Conclusion

Firewood in Tirupur is used as a source of energy for the garmentsector. At the same time, it acts as a major livelihood source for manypoor people. There are no viable alternative sources for fire wood.

Further Study

The increasing demand for firewood per year indicates that commercialgrowing of firewood to replenish supplies would be an option. Thishowever might mean loss of agricultural land and consumption of largequantities of water, which is already scarce and also polluted. It is importantto examine the impact on the food security of the region. It is also importantto examine whether these farmers can be shifted to growing plantationsfor the purpose of supplying firewood and thereby ensure that theirpurchasing power is enhanced.

The potentially deleterious effects as well as the economics of cultivatingspecies like Prosopis in India or as a whole in tropics should be thesubject of more research efforts, management systems and debates amongresearchers, Governmental and Non-Governmental organizations andother stakeholders.

Issues of pollution especially the carbon emissions, rise of temperaturesin the area and prevalence of ash and atmospheric pollution are causesfor concern for the general population. Further studies need to beconducted to quantify the levels of pollution from firewood.

The health impact on various stakeholders is another area to be lookedinto especially in the context of respiratory and bronchial infections, thevarious skin ailments and allergies that occur due to use of firewood.

The living conditions of labourers involved in the process of firewoodcollection and their issues should also be studied.

The working conditions of labourers in boiler operations need to bestudied and safety factors looked into.

The source of firewood and the reason behind the marginal farmersfelling the plants can be studied.

The average working hours of the labourers in the industry is reportedto be 90 hours per week. However during peak seasons, piece rate workersoften are forced to work more than 120 hours per week.

The fulfilling of targets also means the employment of child labour byfamilies themselves. This raises the disturbing trend of invisible childlabour- this issue needs to be researched and proactive steps undertaken.

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One of the major challenges the industry faces is the very future offirewood-based boilers which as days go by become unsustainable. Thequestion of alternate technology which is cleaner, ecologically sustainableand economically viable needs to be debated with multi stakeholderparticipation.

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Acknowledgments

Factory workers interviewed

Mr. Raju, Tirupur

Mr. Balu, Tirupur

Mr. Ramesh, Tirupur,

Mr. Guna, Tirupur

Factories in Tirupur

Karunambika

Sathya Steam

Udayam Dyeing unit

Sarinitha compacting unit

Lakshimi compacting and drying unit

Federations and Associations in Tirupur

Mr. Ramakrishna, SHIMA

Mr. Govidaswami, Tirupur Manufactures Association (TMA)

Mr. Senthil, Tirupur Dyeing Association (TDA)

Agricultural Groups

Mr. Mani, Tirupur Vivasaya Sangham

Brokers/Agents in Tirupur

Mr. Isaraj, M/s Swami and Co

Mr. Bagyaraja

Mr. Kaliyappan

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Brokers/Agents in Kangayam

Mr. Kannan, Guru timbers

Mr. Palanichami, Selvi timbers

Weighbridges in Tirupur

Mr. Bagyaraja

TKT weighbridge

Labourers / Woodcutters in Kangayam

Mr. Palanichami, Kambiliyanpatty

Mr. Krishnappan, Kangayam

Gunasekharan, Kangayam

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Burning Issue

Prakruthi, Bangalore-based non-profit organisation established in 1991,envisages a society where the economic and social divide created by anon-egalitarian system is minimised. In attempting to do this, Prakruthi workswith the poor and the marginalised in various sectors of Indian economysuch as the plantation workers, small and marginal farmers, women, youthand children. It has adopted the strategy of linking the corporate world andcommunities of people in trying to achieve our stated mission.

In the new millennium Prakruthi took a conscious shift to address issuesraised by liberalisation, privatization and globalization. Pursuing thisparadigm shift today its programs and projects are focused on linking deprivedgrassroots communities with the emerging new opportunities in a globalisedworld.

Solidaridad, established in 1976 in The Hague, Netherlands as adevelopment organization, is now an International Network Organisation ofnine equal members.

South and South East Asia, with its huge market, rapidly growing globaleconomic and political role and its advancement in the CSR discourse andyet its challenges of addressing the Millennium Development Goals, makesit an important region for Solidaridad to design and implement sustainabilityprogrammes through its office in New Delhi, India in collaboration withdifferent local partners.

The regional office, primarily focussing on India, Nepal, Sri Lanka,Bangladesh, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia addresses the issues incotton, textiles, tea, coffee, soy, palm oil, cocoa and sugarcane sectors.

PrakruthiE n a b l i n g S u s t a i n a b i l i t y

TM

Documents

Burning issue, consumption of firewood in the garment clusters of Tirupur