India, Jan. 30 -- The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a series of stringent directives to address the severe environmental degradation caused by tannery industries in Tamil Nadu's Vellore district, ordering that the state must recover the cost of ecological restoration and compensation for affected communities from industries responsible for discharging untreated effluents into the Palar River.

A bench comprising justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said the environmental damage was "irreversible", and highlighted the catastrophic impact on water bodies, groundwater and agricultural lands, which has led to economic hardship for farmers and posed significant public health risks.

It added that the extensive damage caused to the environm...