You might have heard about anti-Sterlite protest. At least 13 people have died due to police firing in this protest.

This is one of the most violent incidents between people and government.

At last, the protesters succeeded in their attempt, and the Tamil Nadu government ordered yesterday to permanently shut down the copper plant in Thoothukudi.

This is not the first time for the residents of the Thoothukudi and surrounding areas to do protests against this company. Whenever they start a protest, they used to be repressed by the police and government authorities.

Do you know why these people have been protesting against Sterlite without caring about their lives?

Here are some awful facts about Sterlite Copper Plant:

• Sterlite Copper is a business unit of Vedanta Ltd. It is a subsidiary of London-based metals major Vedanta Resources Plc.
• Vedanta is specialised in mining and refining non-ferrous metals such as zinc, copper and aluminium.
• Anil Agarwal is the owner of the company who started his career as a scrap dealer from Bihar.
• Sterlite produces 1200 tonne per day and 400,000 tonnes per year.
• Initially in 1992, though the company has been allotted a huge land in Ratnagiri of Maharashtra, the company’s work was suspended in 1993 due to its pollution.
• Yet, Sterlite managed to enter Tamil Nadu within a year i.e. in 1994 after getting a no-objection certificate from the state government’s pollution control board.
• The company even violated the setback conditions as the plant was built within 14 km of the Gulf of Mannar.
• Several times gas was leaked and led to many health problems to the people.
• It is very sad that there is no single house in this area without having a sick person in it. Cancer is the most common health hazard here.
• Water in this area and nearby areas are polluted by effluents. It is in red colour. But, people use this water for drinking as there is no other option.
• The crops that are being harvested here are also affected by industrial pollution.
• Even the trunks of trees changed their colour.

Image Credit: Natesh Ramasamy / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ramnaganat/6308880819/

Image Reference: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thoothukudi_-_Salt_Pan_at_Sunset.jpg