People of Thoothukudi who actively participated in the protests that led to the closure of the Vedanta owned Sterlite copper plant now feel cheated after the shut down and want reopening of the plant, according to a Swarajya report.
As per the report, the team that visited Thoothukudi recorded the statements of various people who were involved in the protests against the Sterlite copper back in 2018 citing environmental issues. Shanmugalakshmi, a woman from South Veerapandiyapuram, Thoothukudi, who led the local families in the neighbourhoods during the Sterlite copper plants revealed how several strangers came to her village and spread propaganda against the plant that was a source of livelihood for the people.
She said that she was unaware who started the campaign against Sterlite Copper in the town but all she knew was that there was a very strong campaign against the plant which spread like wildfire. She revealed that some unknown people had come to the village and played multiple videos talking about ‘harmful effects’ of such factories. These people, she said, claimed that they would help them get rid of Sterlite. “We raised the pamphlets they gave and chanted the slogans they taught us. Only after the plant got shut, we understood that we were cheated,” she told Swarajya.
Shanmugalakshmi further lamented how Sterlite provided scholarships to children and students in the villages of Thoothukudi. She also mentioned the various social welfare and women empowerment schemes undertaken by Sterlite including medical facilities for sick people and planting trees in the city. Then Shanmugalakshmi admitted that the closure of the plant left the people helpless saying, “Now we are standing in the street like orphans without any support.”
Another woman protester named Sandanamari who was interviewed by the team regretted having participated in the Sterlite protests and closing down the very plant that supported her family. She said, “My husband used to work for Sterlite. The family was doing well till the company was operating. We unnecessarily fought against the plant and forced it to shut down. Now, my husband must go to work for wages, and it’s hard to support the family. We have two kids. They were all born here. If the allegations against Sterlite were true, then how could I and my family be still healthy? We didn’t understand this during the time of protest.”
Sandamari then added that the villagers and the people of Thoothukudi were slowly realizing that the protests against Sterlite were planned and the people were fooled in the name of protests. She further begged the authorities saying, “On behalf of the villagers, I beg the authorities to reopen the plant”.
In May 2018, Sterlite Copper plant in Thoothukudi owned by Vedanta was ultimately shut down by Tamil Nadu government following protests by the local people on the grounds of alleged environmental hazards caused by the plant. Shutdown of the Sterlite Copper plant dealt a huge blow to the the country’s copper trade and India slipped from being one of the top five exporters of the copper cathodes in 2017-2018 to become a net importer from 2018-2019.
Last month, owner of the Sterlite copper plant Vedanta had submitted an application to the supreme Court seeking permission to carry out maintenance work at the plant. Vedanta mentioned the prolonged rains in Tamil Nadu and stated that the plant “has been steeply deteriorating” after it remained in a shut down condition since Mat 2018.
