Complaints against us are 'politically motivated': Sterlite

Sterlite Industries Limited, a UK-based Vedanta Group company, today told the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that the complaints of alleged gas leakage from its copper smelting plant in Tamil Nadu's Tuticorin district were "politically motivated".

"My specific case is that the entire matter is politically motivated. There were no complaints (of alleged leakage) before and after that day (March 23, 2013).

"Every contemporaneous report, including that of the District Collector, said there was nothing wrong with our unit," senior advocate C A Sundaram, appearing for Sterlite, claimed.

After hearing Sterlite's arguments against the closure of its plant by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar directed the TNPCB to submit before it by May 20 the reasons for shutting down the smelting unit.

The NGT asked the TNPCB how its bench comprising of just a chairperson had the power to order closure of plant, and fixed May 22 to hear further arguments on a daily basis. During the hearing, Mr Sundaram argued that Sterlite has invested over Rs 4,000 crore in the copper smelting plant and the same was evident from the state-of-the-art scrubbing system installed (for cleaning the emissions) in the unit.

Mr Sundaram argued that according to the complaints received from 12 individuals and three organisations, residents of Tuticorin town were affected by the alleged gas leak between 5.45 AM and 7 AM on March 23 from the Sterlite plant despite presence of several other units in the same industrial estate.

He wondered how the gas, which had allegedly leaked from the plant and affected residents of the town located around eight kms away, had bypassed all the other villages located between the unit and affected area.