Chennai: An indefinite protest by Kumarettiyapuram villagers in Thoothukudi of Tamil Nadu against the expansion plans of Sterlite Industries Ltd’s copper plant reached its 45th day on Thursday, with actor-turned politician Kamal Haasan joining students, political parties and neighbouring villagers in support of the protest.
“We cannot allow a Bhopal-like tragedy to happen in Thoothukudi,” Haasan, founder of the new political party Makkal Needhi Maiam, said on Thursday. Speaking to reporters in Chennai, he said that he will lead a protest against Sterlite Industry’s copper plant in Thoothukudi on 1 April.
Last week, thousands of protesters gathered at Thoothukudi (Tuticorin) town to protest against the copper smelting factory, the latest in a series of protests going back over 20 years against Sterlite Industries, a subsidiary of London-based Vedanta Resources Plc.
Claiming that the nearby copper plant contaminated the groundwater and caused respiratory problems, residents of Kumarettiyapuram launched an indefinite stir last month.
According to Sterlite Industries, it currently has a 400,000 metric tonnes per annum (MTPA) production capacity copper smelter with associate facilities such as refinery and copper rod plant, sulphuric acid plant of more than 1.2 million MTPA and phosphoric acid plant of 220,000 MTPA at State Industries Promotion Corp. of Tamil Nadu Ltd (SIPCOT), Thoothukudi. Sterlite also operates a 160 megawatts (MW) coal-based power plant in the southern coastal town of Tamil Nadu.
While the stir has been against the firm’s proposed expansion plans and to demand the closure of its existing operations, a new report by the NGO Chennai Solidarity Group, has revealed that Sterlite obtained clearance without conducting a public hearing as prescribed by the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) notification.
The report that was released in Chennai on Wednesday alleged that SIPCOT, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) and the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) misled the Madras high court about the location of Sterlite Industries’s proposed expansion to avoid public consultation.
A writ petition challenging the environmental clearance and the exemption on grounds that the project did not fall within the existing SIPCOT Industrial Complex was rejected by the Madras high court in April 2016.
State environment minister K.C. Karupannan, while talking to reporters on Wednesday, said that an inquiry to find out the environmental impacts of the Sterlite factory would be initiated and the district administration would soon conduct a meeting with the villagers to get their views on the expansion of the unit.