Sterlite oxygen plant | Thoothukudi comes under tight security
Around 600 policemen have been deployed, together with water cannons and tear-gas autos
The police have tightened security in Thoothukudi after the Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed mining firm Vedanta’s plea for working the oxygen plant in its Sterlite Copper smelter that continues to be sealed since May 2018 after protests.
Additional Director-General of Police (Law and Order) Jayant Murali is tenting in Thoothukudi, together with different cops, to watch the security preparations within the district, particularly close to the Sterlite Copper premises within the SIPCOT Industrial Complex. The Collectorate and the villages the place many protesters reside are additionally under watch.
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“Around 600 policemen have been deployed, armed with water cannons and tear-gas vehicles,” mentioned a police officer.
Though no protest was staged by the teams that demand everlasting closure of the copper smelter, the police are monitoring them. “We’re in touch with all the movements that supported the anti-Sterlite agitation in the past. We’ll take a call on the Supreme Court’s order very soon,” mentioned an office-bearer of a protest group.
Meanwhile, Vedanta, promoter of Sterlite Copper, has thanked the Supreme Court, the State and Central governments and civil society for supporting its request for working its oxygen plant “to meet the nation’s urgent needs”.
“We have put together a plan for achieving a safe, sustainable roadmap to activating our oxygen manufacturing facilities. We will extend our full cooperation to the oversight committee that will be set up under the guidance of the Hon’ble Supreme Court. We are focussed on swiftly meeting the critical need for oxygen in keeping with all necessary precautions and urgency. We are committed to making the entire production capacity available only for the purpose of producing medical-grade oxygen and are already working with experts on how best to resolve the logistics of dispatching it to critical areas… All our efforts are now directed towards reactivating the oxygen plant at the earliest, with the support of our communities and employees,” the corporate mentioned in a press release.