Sterlite Copper has received letters from around 1.5 lakh representatives of farmers, truckers and employees’ associations in Thoothukudi supporting the re-opening of the copper smelting plant.

The letters have been forwarded along with a petition by the company to the Prime Minister’s office seeking permission to reopen the copper smelter plant. The people supporting the re-opening of the company claim that the closure of the plant has affected their livelihood. This support quashes the false propaganda of people being against the company.

“As the plant significantly contributes to the economic development of the surrounding regions, its closure has affected the daily life of many. Those employed in shipment agencies and many others who worked as tippers etc are now crippled because of unemployment,” the statement said, as reported by TNIE

The daily wage workers are the ones who have been hit hard by the closure of the company as they are now staring at unemployment. The closure of the plant has also hit the prices of fertilizers. The price of sulphuric acid has escalated from Rs 4,000 a metric ton to Rs 9,000 a metric ton. Industry experts say that one of the major reasons for the price rise is the closure of the Sterlite Copper plant.

With unemployment staring at them, and also the news of activists getting paid to the tunes of Rs 50 Lakhs to protest surfacing, the villagers have now come forward to say that they had been mislead.

This support comes at a time when the Anti-Sterlite Copper lobby is trying hard to create a perception of locals being against the opening of the company. From bullying the villagers who come in support of re-opening the company, to carrying out signature campaigns without any cover letter attached, the lobby is hell bent on create a propaganda of the locals being against the corporate.

Now that the PMO has received 150,000 letters seeking the reopening of the plant, the officials must take a while to ponder on the following points :

Who are the activists seeking the closure of the plant? What are their political affiliations? A villager accused an activist of getting paid around Rs 50 Lakhs for protesting against the company. Why isn’t there a probe behind this allegation? How did a few people create a false propaganda around the country’s largest Copper smelting plant and closed it down? The domino effect of the closure of the smelting plant was seen in the increase in the price of Copper. Was the protest aimed at such an occurrence? The closure of the plant has also resulted in the price hike in fertilizer units. Was this part of the grander scheme of things? Was the closure of the plant aimed at creating economic unrest for the country?

While the innocent people of Tamil Nadu keep falling prey to propaganda, the economy of the country also takes a massive hit. The legal counsel of Sterlite Copper, Mr Aryama Sundaram, gave out a press briefing wherein he mentioned that no data or evidences of pollution has been submitted before the court. We should be very careful in forming an opinion without due diligence as it could lead to disastrous results, as seen in the Tuticorin protest. The losers in this situation are the local people who have now started feeling the brunt of the closure of the plant, as unemployment and livelihood loss stares them in the face.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SatyaVijayi.

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