Anburaj, the Panchayat President belonging to DMK party from Thoothukudi district, wrote to Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami requesting to take action for the reopening of Sterlite Copper factory at Thoothukudi.
In the letter dated 14th July 2020, the Rajavinkovil Panchayat President wrote to the CM saying that the villagers of his panchayat gave up agriculture a long time back and that their lives were dependent on the industries surrounding the region.
He stated that the people of his panchayat earned their livelihood through the direct and indirect jobs generated by industries. He added that Sterlite Copper had become ‘an integral part of the people of his villages by staying with them through their thick and thin’.
He said that their lives and livelihoods had been hit hard due to the closure of Sterlite Copper Plant in Thoothukudi.
The letter said that people of the villages had to do odd jobs to sustain themselves and with the coming coronavirus, they have been left in lurch without any work.
Mr. Anburaj in his letter further stated that when Sterlite Copper factory was functional, they had provided free healthcare, drinking water facilities, education and tree planting activities in their villages.
‘Environmental activist’ Nityanand Jayaraman, evangelist Mohan C. Lazarus, Fathima Babu and Samarendra Das of the London based Foil Vedanta group spearheaded the protests against Sterlite Copper.
The protests were supported by DMK and other opposition parties.
#Sterlite ஆலையை திறக்க பசுமை தீர்ப்பாயம் உத்தரவிட்டிருப்பது தமிழக அரசுக்கு ஏற்பட்டிருக்கும் உச்சகட்ட அவமானம்.
கொள்கை முடிவெடுக்க வலியுறுத்தியபோது உதாசீனப்படுத்திய எடப்பாடியின் முகத்தில் இத்தீர்ப்பு கரியைப் பூசி இருக்கிறது.
தமிழக அரசே, இனியாவது திருந்தி கொள்கை முடிவெடுங்கள்! pic.twitter.com/swN57NCaft
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) December 15, 2018
Disappointed with @mkstalin for his asking for #Sterlite factory closure. What new evidence does he have to ask for this?The plant ran fr 10 yrs under DMK rule.What action did they take?Believed that DMK will be a progressive party under him.They are heading closer to the fringe
— Sumanth Raman (@sumanthraman) March 26, 2018
It is to be noted that it was the DMK government that had given a go ahead for the expansion of Sterlite Copper at Thoothukudi
இனி மேல் @mkstalin ஸ்டெர்லைட் பத்தி பேசுவிங்க..
நீங்க பன்ன தப்புனால தான் இவ்வளவு பிரட்சனை இந்த போராட்டமே நீங்க விரிவாக்க பணி ஏற்படுத்தலானா உயிர்ப்பலி போராட்டத்திற்க்கு அவசியம் இல்லை..@ModernBuddhan
@malathyj1972@umanathanraba@Bhairavinachiya@mr_pollachiyan@Tenkasikkaran pic.twitter.com/or3AQJp2is— பாலா (@badboybala_63) January 10, 2020
The Sterlite Copper plant in Thoothukudi was shut down in May 2018 following widespread violence in Thoothukudi that led to the loss of 13 lives.
Sterlite has an an annual production capacity of 4 lakh tonnes per annum, accounted for 40% of the country’s total copper production. Since its closure, the domestic production and exports of refined copper declined drastically from 378,555 tonnes in 2017-18 to 47,917 tonnes in 2018-19. Other small scale industries dependent on the factory lost business. Jobs that were directly and indirectly dependent on the factory evaporated. Since then, there has been demand from the residents of Thoothukudi and those affected for the reopening of the plant.
