Sterlite Vedanta moves Madras HC seeking to provide minimum manpower for factory maintenance

Sterlite Copper's parent firm Vedanta Limited on Wednesday has approached Madras High Court asking government, district administration and pollution control board to provide minimum manpower & electricity for factory maintenance.

The plea stated that they need power supply & access of authorised personnel to rectify the leakage of Sulphuric acid.

The government ordered the permanent closure of the plant after 13 people participating in a protest against its operations were killed in police firing on May 22 and May 23.

For more than two decades, activists in Thoothukudi have accused Sterlite of contaminating the region's air and water resources and causing breathing disorders, skin diseases, heart conditions and cancer. Since February, there were large-scale protests against the company's copper smelter, which had the capacity to produce 4.38 lakh tonnes of anodes per annum, or 1,200 tonnes per day.