Eleven killed in police firing during anti-sterlite protest in Tamil Nadu, why people against with Vedanta's Tuticorin unit

Chennai: At least 11 people were killed as police opened fire on protesters who went on a rampage demanding closure of a copper smelting plant in Tamil Nadu's port city of Tuticorin, prompting the ruling AIADMK to issue appeals for calm and a promise to take legal action against the plant.

Chief Minister E Palaniswami, confirming the nine deaths, announced a judicial inquiry into the violence.

The protesters took out a procession towards the collectorate defying prohibitory orders in the area, said the chief minister, adding that they not only threw stones at policemen but also set on fire their vehicles. The protesters threw stones at the collector's office, Mr Palaniswami said in a statement.

"The police had to take action under unavoidable circumstances to protect public life and property as the protesters resorted to repeated violence... police had to control the violence," Palaniswami, who holds the Home portfolio, said.

Thousands of local residents have been protesting for more than three months against the Sterlite copper smelting plant and its reported expansion but complained that the state government had not responded to their demands. They had intensified protests demanding closure of the plant after reports came in that the group was seeking licence for expansion as the initial 25 year licence comes to an end.

About 20,000 people gathered at the protest site today and stormed the district collector's office, vandalising government property.

Senior Tamil Nadu minister Jayakumar said that the police didn't have an option but to open fire since the protests had turned "extremely violent". The police firing was unavoidable, he said.
 
Government property was damaged in the protest.

MK Stalin of the opposition DMK blamed the state government for the violence, saying that people had been protesting peacefully for so long but the administration did not attempt to address the concerns of the people. The plant should be shut down, Mr Stalin said.

Actor-politician Kamal Haasan made a similar point, "Citizens are not criminals... They are the ones who lose their lives," Mr Haasan, who had earlier participated in the peaceful protests against the plant, said. "It is the negligence of the government... The government ignored peaceful protests," he said.

In a late night statement, Sterlite Cooper said it has appealed to the government and authorities to ensure safety of employees and facilities. "It's with great sorrow and regret that we witnessed today's incidents around the protest today at Tuticorin... Sterlite Copper plant is non-operational," it said.

In March 2013, hundreds of people suffered breathing difficulty, nausea and throat infection following an alleged gas leak from the plant. Though the plant was ordered to shut down following allegations of violating pollution control norms, the National Green Tribunal had ultimately allowed it to be reopened.

The same year in another case spearheaded by MDMK chief Vaiko, the Supreme Court had slapped a 100 crore fine on the plant for polluting over the years. However, at that time Sterlite, run by the Vedanta group, had claimed it adheres to pollution control norms.

Sterlite began operations in 1996. It now employs about 1,000 people full time and about 2,000 on contract. It also provides indirect employment opportunity for around 25,000 people.

The plant

The smelter, which can produce 400,000 tonnes of copper cathode a year, is run by Vedanta's Sterlite Copper unit, which is controlled by Vedanta Ltd, a majority-owned subsidiary of London-listed Vedanta. The plant has been shut since March 27, when it was closed as part of a 15-day scheduled maintenance. The company plans to double capacity at the smelter to 800,000 tonnes per year.

Pollution board action

During the closure, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board rejected Vedanta's licence to operate the smelter in April, saying the company had not complied with local environmental laws. Sterlite has challenged the step. The appellate authority of the pollution board has adjourned the next hearing to June 6. The board has accused Sterlite of dumping copper slag in a river and not furnishing reports of groundwater analysis of borewells near the plant. This is not the first time the plant has shut down. It remained shut for weeks in 2013 due to a case at the National Green Tribunal.

Why are people against the smelter?

Residents have been demanding closure of the smelter for the past 100 days, and had announced they would take out a march to the Tuticorin District Collectorate on Tuesday. The district has been witnessing several protests by locals and others against the plant and its proposed expansion. Protesters have alleged that the smelter was polluting ground water in their area. An activist group has accused pollution board of allowing the company to operate its smelter with shorter chimney stacks than permitted which helped the company reduce costs but harmed the environment.

What the company says

P Ramnath, CEO of Sterlite Copper has claimed that the plant had adhered to all conditions imposed by NEERI and the Supreme Court and its facilities would now conform to the benchmarks set by International Finance Corporation (IFC). Maintaining that the plant was not a polluter, the company had offered to open its gates "for people to see for themselves than believe rumours and half-truths." The activists, however, turned down the offer, saying the problem was not what happened inside the factory but the pollution it caused outside.

Those who want the plant to run

The Tuticorin Stevedores’ Association, which handles manual cargo at the V O Chidambaranar Port Trust in Tuticorin, has appealed to the chief minister to take steps to resume copper production at the plant. TSA president T Velsankar says that Sterlite was the single-largest private company handling a consistent annualised volume of about 38 lakh metric tonnes of cargo. The association says the closure of the plant has affected the livelihood of thousands of freight operators, drivers and workers in related industries. Chemical Industries Association and Winding Wire Manufacturers Association have also opposed closure of the plant, saying it would adversely impact thousands of workers as well as small factories that depend on the plant for their business.

Copper prices shoot up

Closure of the plant has led to a spike in copper prices. The plant has the capacity to produce 4 lakh tonnes of copper per year. It has a share of about 35 per cent in the India’s primary copper market and exports mainly to Gulf and Asian countries. India's copper consumption has been increasing consistently over the last few years. At current local demand growth of 7 per cent to 8 per cent per year, India may turn into a net importer of copper by the year ended March 2020 if no new plant is commissioned, consultancy firm ICRA Ltd said in an April report.