Sterlite plant in Tuticorin

CHENNAI: The closure of Sterlite Copper smelter in Tuticorin by the Tamil Nadu government is not justified, a three- member committee appointed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has said in its report submitted to the NGT .

The state government had neither served any notice nor given Sterlite an opportunity to submit its side of the facts, the committee, headed by former Chief Justice of the Meghalaya high court Tarun Aggarwal, observed.

The NGT, which took on record the report submitted by the committee, directed the Tamil Nadu government to submit its response in a week's time.

"The state government may give several reasons for closing down the unit. But the closure is not justified," the committee is learnt to have submitted in its report.

"The three-member committee's submission is a favourable development and it will help Sterlite to reopen its plant. The committee has also suggested constant monitoring of ground water in Tuticorin and we will also adhere to all suggested norms," the counsel for Sterlite Copper, Ariama Sundaram, told reporters, after completion of proceedings before the NGT on Wednesday.

Poovulagin Nanbargal, a green NGO, sought to quickly blame the development as an administrative failure of the state government. "It clearly indicates administrative failure of the Tamil Nadu government, which went about the whole closure episode in a haste, despite several opposition parties urging the government to ensure foolproof action," a source in the NGO said.

A spokesman of the ruling AIADMK denied the development on Sterlite as a setback. He also denied the allegation that it was an administrative failure. "The state government had sought the opinion of legal experts and only then it proceeded ahead with its decision to close down the plant," the spokesman told a Tamil television channel.

