01275nas a2200121   4500000000100000008004100001260003200042100002500074700002000099245009200119300001400211520092800225       2008                            d  c2008bRoutledegeaNew Delhi1 aBenjamin Larroquette1 aGaspard Appavou00aA Factory in a Paddy Field in Pondicherry: Is Berger Paints Polluting Pandasozhanallur?  a168-170, 3 aPandasozhanallur village is situated approximately 20 km south-west of Pondicherry town. It is one of the main suppliers of rice and other produce to Pondicherry. In 1998, Berger Paints set up a production plant in the village. The land was bought legally from a local farmer and all authorisations were granted by the Pondicherry Pollution Control Board (PPCB). There have been complaints from agricultural landowners that the paint factory has been releasing untreated waste directly into the aquifer, polluting the water used for irrigation and drinking purposes. Berger Paints maintains that it has kept its promise and that it has complied with PPCB norms. The farmers believe that Berger Paints is pumping waste directly into borewells without treating it. Their demand is that this should be stopped at once. No evidence of pollution has been seen in the various rounds of water testing that have taken place so far.