MADURAI: Nearly a month after the police firing on anti-Sterlite protesters left 13 people dead, the copper plant’s parent firm, Vedanta Limited, has moved the
Madras high court for restoration of power and permission to access the plant for carrying out maintenance work.
The move comes in the wake of an acid leak detected by police and
district administration a few days back from the sulphuric acid tank. The petition is likely to come up for hearing on Wednesday. In its plea, the company said the state government has disconnected electricity for extraneous reasons and to appease protesters without taking into account the safety of the plant. The abrupt disconnection of power has hit administrative functions and is causing hardship to its employees working in the plant.
Sterlite: Govt should have safely shut down plant
The petition stated, “The government ought to have taken opinion from industry experts on safe shutdown of the plant.”
The move is in line with company’s earlier statement on Sunday night, in the wake of the acid leak noticed in the plant.
“Anticipating such incidents in the absence of regular maintenance, we have been requesting the state government to give us limited manpower access and minimal power supply so that mandatory safety audits at the smelter can be regularly carried out,” the company said in its statement. “That request is still remains pending,” it added.
Further, the petition also sought directions to allow them to safely evacuate and tend to all materials stored within the plant, based on the chemical inventory list prepared by the government.
Representative image