Sterlite nod: Thoothukudi tense, security beefed up

According to Superintendent of Police S Jeyakumar, 600 personnel have been deployed to ensure law and order is maintained. Collectorate premises is under three-layer security cover, and riot control vehicles have been stationed in front of the Collectorate and near the plant along Madurai by-pass road. The officer added that the police force could be mobilised from neighbouring districts if required.

The majority of the people who attended the public hearing held last week raised objections to reopening the plant for any purpose and insisted on dismantling the copper smelter. A few others suggested that the government should take over the facility if it wants to generate oxygen for medical purpose.

Protesting the decision to allow the company to open the plant, members of ‘Makkal Kootamaippu’ courted arrest while attempting to block the road in front of the Collectorate. Before staging the agitation, its representatives submitted a petition seeking authorities to deny permission.

If the company had concern for the wellbeing of the people, the required amount of oxygen could be generated from other industries belonging to the Vedanta group, M Krishnamurthy, one of the protesters who courted arrest, told reporters.

A Sankar, a Thoothukudi-based environmental activist, opined that reopening the Sterlite plant, even if for oxygen generation, could create social and, affect peace and stability in Thoothukudi. The people in the district are concerned that the move would eventually let Sterlite smelt copper. So the central and State governments should reconsider the decision, he said.

Meanwhile, members from Makkal Adhikaram staged a road roko near the Central bus stand in Tiruchy on Monday in protest against the government decision.

The protesters urged the political parties not to help out the Vedanta group of companies, which they claimed is “anti-people and behind loss of several lives in and around its Thoothukudi unit”.

They claimed that Vedanta has been running factories in five states and there is no need to open the one that has been closed after a series of legal battles. Tiruchy district coordinator Raja, Tamilaga Vivasayigal Sangam district president MP Chinnadurai, among others, spoke.

After the protesters attempted to block the road, police arrested all except the children.