1,300 tonnes of sulphuric acid removed from Sterlite plant

After the violent May 22 protest against Sterlite, the state government issued a Government Order (GO), on May 28, to permanently close down the plant. Following that, the Collector sealed the plant on the same day with raw materials present inside.

Under the circumstance, one of the raw materials, sulphuric acid, got leaked from one of the containers, on June 16 and it entered the dyke, the brick structure surrounding the container. Sterlite Copper claimed that as sulphuric acid was kept for long it caused rupture of the valves due to its highly acidic nature and so it needs to be removed.

Following that Collector sent an expert team led by Thoothukudi Sub Collector, Prasanth, inside the Sterlite plant to assess the leak and after their inspection maintained that the leak was minor and there will be no impact on the environment.

Following that sulphuric acid container lorries were taken inside and initially the leaked sulphuric acid content was removed. Then the district administration decided to remove all the remaining sulphuric acid content from the Sterlite Copper plant and so more number of container lorries were roped in.

Though the Collector assured that the entire content would be removed in day or two the process extended and is supposed to be completed on Sunday. In the meantime, the Collector, who met the media, said that so far 85 tanker lorries were used and 1,500 metric tonnes of the acid had been evacuated out of the plant. The entire sulphuric acid content would be removed by Sunday evening.

An expert team, containing retired professors from Anna University and IIT (Madras), along with the officials of state government, also carried out inspection inside the plant and assessed the safety of the plant. All the remaining raw materials are constantly watched round the clock, to prevent any accidents in the future, said the Collector.

Meanwhile, A team of CB-CID officials on Saturday arrived in Thoothukudi to conduct an on-the-spot probe, inspection and assessment of the areas where the anti-Sterlite protesters ‘resorted to violence,’ leading to police firing that claimed 13 lives on May 22 and 23.

The officials inspected the Collectorate where government vehicles were torched and the Sterlite quarters, where two-wheelers were set ablaze, police said. In addition, the sleuths visited the godown of the Food Corporation of India, Anna Nagar, Terespuram, V V D signal, Pani Maya Matha church etc and collected material evidence from the places, they said. Some cartridges used by the police and live bullets were seized at the spot where the firing took place, the police said.