Anti-Sterlite People’s Movement (ASM) convener Fatima Babu on Wednesday said she had given a notice of 60 days, under the provisions of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act and the Environment (Protection) Act, to the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) and the Department of Environment to initiate action against alleged violations of norms by the Sterlite Copper plant in Thoothukudi.
Addressing reporters here, she said the notice was filed on September 11 on behalf of the ASM. “Any citizen of India can file a notice if they [the government] fail to take action against environmental violations. Under the Act, if the Ministry of Environment fails to take action, all [relevant] documents should be made available to us.”
Ms. Fatima said she would file a case in the Thoothukudi court if action was not initiated against the authorities of Sterlite within the stipulated time. She said the company had, in a Consent to Establish application filed in 2005, stated that it had an area of 172.17 hectares (ha) which, it claimed, was sufficient to accommodate the expansion of production from 900 tonnes to 1,200 tonnes per day. It had further stated that 65 ha was allocated for solid waste storage, 1.5 ha for an effluent treatment plant and 17.5 ha for a green belt.
However, the application for renewal of the Consent to Operate and a TNPCB report in 2018 indicated that the land available was only 102.03 ha and not 172.17 ha, she said. Ms. Fatima claimed that over 15,000 tonnes of waste containing arsenic — supposed to be discharged into secure landfills — was given to unapproved and as yet unidentified parties. This, she said, was in violation of various provisions of the Air, Water and Environment Acts.
