In public hearing, plan to reopen Sterlite plant faces opposition

The matter had earlier come before the Supreme Court after Vedanta had sought an urgent hearing, with the company promising that it could produce oxygen if their plant was allowed to reopen.

2 min readChennaiApr 24, 2021 02:39 AM IST

Locals staged a protest saying they don’t want the oxygen supplied by Vedanta company.

A public hearing called by the Thoothukudi district administration on Friday to gather opinion about a proposal to reopen Vedanta’s sealed Sterlite Copper plant to produce medical oxygen ended with strong opposition from majority of the people.

The matter had earlier come before the Supreme Court after Vedanta had sought an urgent hearing, with the company promising that it could produce oxygen if their plant was allowed to reopen. On Thursday, the Central government also supported the idea, though the Tamil Nadu government was against it.

Subsequently, the Thoothukudi administration was asked to conduct a public hearing and send its report on Friday to prepare the affidavit before the Supreme Court.

District Collector K Senthil Raj said the meeting was to elicit the view of stakeholders. “They were against the idea. They opposed it. I have reported the same to the state government,” he told The Indian Express.

The prime question at the meeting was whether local residents were in agreement to reopen the plant for oxygen production. However, a senior official who attended the meeting said the majority of people opposed it. “There were some who supported it but most of them sounded firm against reopening the plant,” the official said.

When asked if there is a judicial order to facilitate the reopening of the plant for oxygen production, the reply was that the move would then be to “dismantle the entire factory, and after that only, the state government may take control of the remaining portion for the oxygen production alone.”

Arun Janardhanan

Arun Janardhanan is an experienced and authoritative Tamil Nadu correspondent for The Indian Express. Based in the state, his reporting combines ground-level access with long-form clarity, offering readers a nuanced understanding of South India’s political, judicial, and cultural life - work that reflects both depth of expertise and sustained authority. Expertise Geographic Focus: As Tamil Nadu Correspondent focused on politics, crime, faith and disputes, Janardhanan has been also reporting extensively on Sri Lanka, producing a decade-long body of work on its elections, governance, and the aftermath of the Easter Sunday bombings through detailed stories and interviews. Key Coverage Areas: State Politics and Governance: Close reporting on the DMK and AIADMK, the emergence of new political actors such as actor Vijay’s TVK, internal party churn, Centre–State tensions, and the role of the Governor. Legal and Judicial Affairs: Consistent coverage of the Madras High Court, including religion-linked disputes and cases involving state authority and civil liberties. Investigations: Deep-dive series on landmark cases and unresolved questions, including the Tirupati encounter and the Rajiv Gandhi assassination, alongside multiple investigative series from Tamil Nadu. Culture, Society, and Crisis: Reporting on cultural organisations, language debates, and disaster coverage—from cyclones to prolonged monsoon emergencies—anchored in on-the-ground detail. His reporting has been recognised with the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism. Beyond journalism, Janardhanan is also a screenwriter; his Malayalam feature film Aarkkariyam was released in 2021. ... Read More

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