Villagers seek re-opening of Sterlite plant

Residents from various villages in and around this coastal town submitted petition to District Collector K. Senthil Raj on Monday seeking immediate reopening of Sterlite Copper that remained sealed since May 2018 following police firing in the anti-Sterlite protest in which 13 persons were killed.

The petitioners were from Mattakkadai, Lourdhammalpuram, Annai Teresa Fishermen Colony, Terespuram, George Street, Poobalarayarpuram, Tharuvai Road, Kovilpillai Street and Geetha Jeevan Nagar, all within the town, and Saaminaththam, Ayyanadaippu, Pandaarampatti, Silverpuram and Therkku Silukkanpatti, all villages situated near Thoothukudi.

The petitioners said the living conditions of the residents of these places were “good” as long their children were employed in Sterlite Copper. After the closure of the unit, their wards had been left unemployed, leaving the families in red. Moreover, the traders, contractors, contract labourers etc. had been hit hard due to the closure of Sterlite Copper.

“Since the unemployed youth and their families have been driven out of Thoothukudi to far off places in search of employment to feed their children, the State Government should take steps for the reopening of Sterlite Copper at the earliest to invigorate the gradually dying families and the industrial growth of Thoothukudi,” said the petitioners.

A group of people from Kathiresan Temple Street in Kovilpatti submitted petition seeking registration of their free house sites in the village accounts. They said though 44 families were given free house sites in 2008, the details were yet to be updated in the village accounts, particularly in the ‘A’ Register. Due to the delay, they could not pay the taxes payable to the village panchayat and get allied benefits.

Farmers led by Karisalbhoomi Vivasaayigal Sangam president A. Varadharajan submitted petition to the Collector seeking permission to lift the silt from the dry irrigation tanks to nourish their fields. Since the chemical fertilizers would seriously harm the soil, the Collector should allow them to take silt from the dry irrigation tanks, they appealed.