‘You Were Busy Denying Marina Space to Kalaignar’: Kanimozhi Taunts EPS Govt on Sterlite Plant Setback

Chennai: The DMK has launched a scathing attack on the AIADMK government over its “unpreparedness” in defending the closure of the Sterlite Plant in Tuticorin before the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

The attack was spearheaded by party MP Kanimozhi on Twitter, two days after the DMK won a legal battle against the E Palaniswami government over the burial of party patriarch M Karunanidhi at Marina beach.

In a series of tweets, Kanimozhi referred to the NGT decision to allow mining major Vedanta to enter the administrative unit of the Sterlite copper plant, which was closed on May 28 following violent protests by local over the ecological damage by the plant.

“The National Green Tribunal, Delhi has granted conditional access to Vedanta to open & operate its Sterlite Copper plant at Thoothukudi. On 22nd May, after 13 people were killed in protest against Sterlite plant, TN government ordered its permanent closure. Vedanta approached the NGT against this order & Senior Counsel CS.Vaidhyanathan represented TN govt (sic),” she wrote.

“Counsel for TN govt should have prepared adequately to defend the TN govt order of closure. But, the briefing & discussion on yesterday's hearing was done only at 10am yesterday. The briefing and discussion on the hearing should have been done by Counsel CS.Vaidhyanathan at least a day before (sic),” she further tweeted.

Kanimozhi added that the legal setback could have been avoided if the government had shown the same enthusiasm in the case as it had shown in “justifying the denial of space to our leader Kalaignar at Marina in Madras HC”.

Allowing conditional partial access to Vedanta, the green panel also directed the Tamil Nadu State Pollution Control Board to submit an analysis of the baseline pollution data of the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd in Tuticorin to ascertain the level of pollution.

The matter will be next heard on August 20.

Reacting on the tribunal's order, the company said in a statement, "We welcome the National Green Tribunal's decision to accept the maintainability of our petition and hear the same. We further welcome the NGT's interim order that gives us access to the administrative section of the plant."

On July 30, the court had refused to grant any interim relief to Vedanta, which has challenged the Tamil Nadu government's order to permanently shut down its Sterlite copper plant in Thoothukudi, even as the firm termed the government action "political".

On July 5, the tribunal had issued notices to the state government and the pollution board seeking their responses after Tamil Nadu raised preliminary objections with regard to the maintainability of Vedanta's plea.

The Tamil Nadu government had, on May 28, ordered the state pollution control board to seal and "permanently" close the mining group's copper plant following violent protests over pollution concerns.

Earlier in April, the Tamil Nadu pollution control board had rejected Sterlite's plea to renew the Consent To Operate certification, saying the company had not complied with the stipulated conditions.

Following this, the government issued a permanent closure notice to the plant.