NGT set aside Tamil Nadu govt order closing down the copper factory, which was at the centre of a violent protest over alleged pollution earlier this year.
Mumbai: Environmental activists have decided to move the Supreme Court against the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) order allowing Sterlite Copper’s controversial smelter to reopen in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu.
The NGT Saturday set aside Tamil Nadu government’s order closing down the copper factory, which was at the centre of a violent protest over alleged pollution, earlier this year.
The activists also want the state government to pass a special resolution or law to shut down the plant for good.
The Thoothukudi-based activists, organised under the Anti Sterlite People’s Movement, met district collector Sandeep Nanduri with a list of demands to ensure that Sterlite Copper does not restart operations and even urged the collector to hold a referendum in the town to take a final decision on the issue.
“Seemingly, things are normal. But people are infuriated with the tribunal’s order,” said Fatima Babu, one of the leaders at the forefront of the protest.
“As of now, we have been having meetings about what to do next, but there are no immediate protests planned as we plan to file an appeal against the order in the Supreme Court,” Babu added.
Also read: NGT asks Tamil Nadu to allow reopening of controversial Sterlite Copper facility
TN govt to also appeal
The Tamil Nadu government has also declared its intention to appeal against the NGT’s order.
Babu was part of the meeting with the district collector along with representatives of the Thoothukudi merchants and traders’ association and the fishing community, which has been opposed to Sterlite, besides some local political personalities.
“We want the government to pass a special Act to shut down Sterlite and also want the collector to use his special powers as the local planning authority to hold a referendum in the town over the issue,” said Babu, who had once contested and lost an assembly election as a candidate of Vaiko’s Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
“So far, the town has been peaceful since the judgment. I informed the protesters who came to meet me today that the government’s stand is to ensure that the smelter does not reopen,” Nanduri told ThePrint.
The district collector said the activists are in touch with the local superintendent of police to get permission for fresh protests, but there are no concrete plans as of now.
A ‘polluting factory’
The Vedanta-owned Sterlite Copper has been shut since April when the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) refused to renew the consent to operate the plant.
The copper smelter has constantly faced massive protests from locals and even raps from various courts for allegedly damaging the environment since it was set up in Thoothukudi in 1996.
However, what started off as a fishermen’s protest in the mid-1990s grew over time to include villages around the plant, and then the entire town of Thoothukudi. Then came activists and organisations from around Tamil Nadu — who have been part of other protests such as the one against the Koodankulam nuclear plant — some of who the police suspects to be radical Leftists.
The government eventually decided to shut the plant after violent protests earlier this year resulting in the killing of 13 people in police firing.
On Saturday, the NGT ruled in favour of the company, saying the reasons cited for closing the plant were not sustainable and directed the TNPCB to give it a consent to operate within three weeks.
Also read: Sterlite copper unit in Tamil Nadu was shut down without evidence of ‘toxicity’ or cancer