Plant shut permanently: EPS

Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) on Monday informed the state assembly that the state had decided to permanently close down the Sterlite copper plant in Thoothukudi.

The state had already consulted legal experts and passed a order under the Water (Prevention and control of pollution) Act, 1974, to close down the plant and will ensure that there are no options left for the company to reopen the plant, he added.

Responding to DMK leader MK Stalin, who raked up the issue in assembly, Palaniswami said the state has withdrawn the land allotment order issued for the plant’s expansion.

Further, water and electricity connections had also been cut. He also said the plant’s trade licence and the license issued to the boilers had been annulled. Under these circumstances, there are no possibilities for the plant to function, he added.

Refuting Stalin’s charges that innocent people were booked by the police, the CM strongly justified arrests made in the case.

“The state cannot be a silent spectator when the public peace and their property are ransacked in the name of protests. The anti socials and infiltrators had to be dealt strongly. Today, Tamil Nadu tops the list in number of protests in the country as the police give permission for all such protests. When AIADMK was an opposition party, we took out protests and staged demonstrations, but we never carried wooden logs and hurled petrol bombs”, the CM said adding that all those who triggered the violence have been identified and will be arrested.