CHENNAI: Rejecting the Tamil Nadu government’s plea to cancel the visit, the three-member independent committee, constituted by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to decide the plea of the Vedanta Limited challenging the closure of its Sterlite copper plant, is scheduled to visit Thoothukudi on Saturday and Sunday. The committee is also likely to hold public consultation.
Sources in the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), which is a party in the Sterlite case, told Express that the committee would arrive in Thoothukudi around 4 pm on Saturday and hold an officers’ meeting. It would visit the Sterlite factory on Sunday morning. The public consultation is planned for Sunday afternoon, although venue has not yet been decided.
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), which is monitoring the committee’s visit, has issued notices to all parties and interveners. The committee, comprising its chairman Justice Tarun Agarwal, former Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court and expert members Satish C Garkoti, scientist in the Union Environment Ministry and HD Varalaxmi from the regional directorate of the CPCB, has reportedly insisted on public consultation to understand the local sentiments first-hand.
The Tamil Nadu government had made a plea to cancel the committee’s visit, saying the matter was sub judice. In a letter to the CPCB regional director, TNPCB member-secretary D Sekar said the State government had moved the Supreme Court and the principal bench of the NGT on maintainability of the NGT order allowing the visit.
In addition to that, the State government filed a petition in the Supreme Court on September 14 with a prayer to review the order of the two-member Supreme Court bench, comprising Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman and Justice Indu Malhotra, passed on September 10, which allowed the tribunal to hear the matter both on merits and maintainability issue raised by the government and decide the matter, based on the committee’s report. However, the CPCB rejected the government’s request.
The committee will hold a sitting in the NGT southern bench in Chennai on Monday.
It can be recalled that the Tamil Nadu government on May 28 ordered the TNPCB to seal and “permanently” close the Sterlite copper smelter plant following violent protests over pollution concerns.
At least, 13 people were killed and several injured on May 22 when the police opened fire on a huge crowd of people protesting against environment pollution allegedly caused by the factory.
The CPCB has requested all parties and interveners to attend the committee’s sitting on Monday in Chennai and furnish relevant documents, if any, to the committee.