Vedanta, the holding company of Sterlite Copper, filed a petition before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday seeking the restoration of electricity at its plant in Thoothukudi. The company said that it wanted to check the extent of sulphuric acid leakage and rectify it.
The company claimed that the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Company (Tangedco) had failed to serve appropriate notice prior to disconnecting power to the unit. Only after the electricity supply was disconnected, a notice was served. This was done even after the authorities were told that the power shutdown would be a risk with numerous machine and raw materials, including hazardous chemicals, still locked inside the premises, the company said in its petition.
The company said that it apprehended that the leakage of sulphuric acid, which was noticed on Saturday last, could be an act of sabotage, as there was minimal security placed at the unit. The company sought the restoration of electricity to check the extent of leakage, fix the issue and to evacuate materials placed inside the unit.
Evacuation to continue
Meanwhile, the evacuation of sulphuric acid from the Sterlite plant continued for the second day on Tuesday.
The process will take at least three more days, a senior official told The Hindu . He said that only a maximum of 250 metric tonnes could be evacuated in a day. Each truck used for the evacuation had a capacity of 15-20 metric tonnes, he added.
Collector Sandeep Nanduri said that 15 trucks had been engaged in the process. He said that the acid would be sent to industries in the district and outside. Mr. Nanduri added that a decision on removing chemicals and other substances from the plant would be taken soon.
A special team led by Sub-Collector M.S. Prasanth, comprising officials from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, Inspectorate of Factories and other departments, have been involved in the evacuation process.
