THOOTHUKUDI
Demanding the reopening of Sterlite Copper, fisherwomen from different coastal hamlets submitted petitions to Collector K. Senthil Raj on Monday.
Even as residents from various villages of Thoothukudi are submitting petitions on Mondays seeking the early reopening of Sterlite Copper’s manufacturing unit in the SIPCOT Industrial Complex that remains closed since May 2018 following the killing of 13 persons during the anti-Sterlite protests, fisherwomen from Fatima Nagar, Inigo Nagar, Lourdhammalpuram, Terespuram, Lions Town and Alangarathittu submitted separate petitions on Monday pressing for the same demand.
They said the educated youth of Thoothukudi, who were getting employment in Sterlite Copper, had to travel to far-off places in search of employment after the copper manufacturing unit was closed down. But they were not getting the right employment with right salaries.
Since most of the educated youth of Thoothukudi were now underemployed, the Tamil Nadu government should order immediate reopening of Sterlite Copper, the fisherwomen said.
A group of residents of Pandarampatti submitted a petition with the similar prayer. They said over 300 youth from their village who were employed with Sterlite Copper had been rendered jobless for the past three and a half years. Even as these families were facing a bleak future, the villages that received Sterlite Copper-funded welfare and development schemes were denied of those programmes.
Hence, the government should order the reopening of the plant, they said.
Water supply
A group of villagers from Sundararajapuram near Nalumavadi near Kurumbur in the district submitted a petition to the Collector seeking better drinking water supply by replacing damaged pipelines and repairing hand pumps in their village.
‘Shift oil refinery’
Members of Thoothukudi district consumers and public welfare association submitted a petition, saying that a private oil refinery was to be established in Allikulam, Ramasamypuram, Keezha Thattapparai, Mela Thattapparai, Umarikkottai, Peroorani and Therkku Silukkanpatti areas by encroaching upon the wild streams.
Consequently, rainwater would enter Thoothukudi and hence the oil refinery should be shifted to some other place, the petition said.
Illicit sand mining
Seeking action against the illicit sand miners lifting sand from Sri Parangusanallur village near Srivaikundam, Pachaiperumal of Eral submitted a petition.
