THOOTHUKUDI: “Sterlite has caused irreparable damages to people’s health and environment and permanent closure of the industry is the only way out,” says M Pushparayan, project director of East Coast Research and Development, an NGO.
A staunch anti-Sterlite activist, he petitioned the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court earlier this year and successfully stalled the `2,300 crore Sterlite expansion plan. The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) had already cleared the company’s plans to expand its capacity from 400 ktpa (kilo tonnes per annum) to 800 ktpa without even conducting a public hearing.
Pushparayan demands stern action against bureaucrats who backed Sterlite and gave permission to the industry. “What Sterlite aimed to do was to double its capacity. It follows that the adverse impact would be doubled. Ditto diseases. That would have been disastrous,” the activist says.
Like Pushparayan, president of the Tamirabarani River Water Protection Council Nainar Kulasekaran (86) too wants Sterlite to move out for good. “Farmers and farming activities have taken a very big hit as the government is only concerned about giving more and more water from Tamirabarani to Sterlite instead of the farm sector,” he rues.