Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government has ordered the closure of Sterlite Copper plant in Tuticorin and “sealed” the premises “permanently.” The closure order came within hours of deputy CM O Panneerselvam and his colleagues visiting the injured protesters at the Tuticorin government hospital.
Coming a day ahead of the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly session, the closure is likely to take the sheen off the opposition plans to corner the government and force chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami to resign over the Sterlite protests and police firing on May 22 and 23 that left 13 dead. Talking to reporters at the AIADMK headquarters, Palaniswami said the government had issued the order for the permanent closure of the unit, respecting the sentiments of the people.
“Representatives of several organisations met me in the presence of the deputy chief minister and other ministers and requested for closure. This has been the sole demand of the local people. The government met the demand by issuing an order today,” Palaniswami said.
He reiterated charges that the Sterlite management failed to adhere to the conditions laid down by the National Green Tribunal, and therefore, the state pollution control board rejected their request for renewal of consent to operate on April 9, 2018. Power and water supply were stopped to the unit subsequently.
“There is a case pending in the court, but there is no stay (on government acting against the unit). The state will implement what is good for the people,” he said, while seeking support of the people of Tuticorin. Even though Sterlite unit had been issued “closure notice” on a couple of occasions earlier, this was the first time the state government has sealed the factory. A team of officials led by Tuticorin district collector Sandeep Nanduri sealed the premises on Monday evening.
“Closure of the plant is an unfortunate development, especially since we have operated it for over 22 years in most transparent and sustainable way, contributing to Tuticorin and state’s socioeconomic development. We will study the order and decide on the future course of action,” Vedanta Limited, which owns the copper smelter, said in a statement.
Opposition parties, including DMK, Congress and MDMK, termed the closure a “belated action”, after 13 people lost their lives in the police firing. DMDK welcomed the move. MDMK and Makkal Needhi Maiam called upon the state government to prevent the company from getting relief through courts.
It has been a tumultuous existence for copper smelter, ever since the Sterlite Industries signed an MoU with the Tamil Nadu government in the early 90s, when J Jayalalithaa was serving her first term as CM, to establish the unit at Tuticorin, after being driven away from Maharashtra and Goa. It started operations in 1996 and in the last 22 years, it has been forced to shut down operations on three occasions, including once due to a blast on the premises and another due to alleged gas leak.
