THOOTHUKUDI: The State government will take all legal steps to permanently shut down the Sterlite Copper unit functioning in Thoothukudi, said Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam after visiting 47 survivors of police firing at Thoothukudi medical college hospital here on Monday.Six days after the incident that left 13 people dead, Deputy Chief Minister OPS landed in the town on Monday.
Panneerselvam visited the victims and consoled them while wishing for fast recovery. OPS told reporters that the 47 injured were recuperating and they were given an increased solatium of Rs 2 lakh each, in addition to previous Rs 3 lakh earmarked earlier. Claiming that the government will not encourage any project objected by people, he assured permanent closure of the Sterlite Copper and the government will take legal procedures to close the unit, he added.
Meanwhile, Panneerselvam visited the riot site on collectorate premises in the presence of collector Sandeep Nanduri, ministers Jayakumar and Kadambur C Raju. He took stock of the damages during the post gunfire violence before leaving to Thoothukudi airport.
According to officials, compensation of over Rs 5.44 crore has been disbursed to the victims, including Rs 20 lakh each for the kin of the 13 deceased, Rs 5 lakh each for 39 seriously injured and Rs 1.5 lakh each for 21 suffered minor injuries during the police firing happened on May 22 and the violence. Following local holiday for Vaikasi Visagam on Monday, the weekly grievance meeting was not convened.