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Sterlite to reopen Tuticorin plant for 2 months

A division bench of the Madras high court today ordered the reopening of the controversial Sterlite copper smelting plant at Tuticorin for two months from December 26 on an experimental basis.

The plant was shut down on November 23 on the order of another bench of the court comprising then chief justice M S Lieberhan and Justice E Padmanabhan on two writ petitions filed by Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Vaiko and the National Trust for Clean Environment following a series of accidents.

The closure order was based on a study made by the Nagpur-based National Environmental Engineering Research Institute.

That bench then referred the case to another bench comprising Justice M K Jain and Justice M Karpagavinayakam, which had reserved orders on Friday last after rehearing the arguments of both sides for two days.

In today's order, the bench said reopening of the plant was subject to the clearance of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board.

The bench directed NEERI to inspect the level of emission of effluents from the plant, including sulphur-based oxides and arsenic, and submit its report to the court on February 15.

The bench posted further hearing in the case to February 22.

UNI

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