The Supreme Court finally allowed Vedanta to produce oxygen in the Tamil Nadu’s Sterlite Plant; this decision had to be taken because of the on-going national crisis.
Sterlite copper smelting plant which was closed down back in 2018 controversially due to protests again alleged pollution. Environmentalists and local activists claim the copper smelting unit was polluting the groundwater in the area, making many come down with serious diseases.
It has been allowed by the Supreme Court to run an oxygen plant in it to help the country fight with its raging coronavirus crisis. It can start with the production in around ten days and must supply it for free and an expert panel will keep an eye on the production too, the court said. The oxygen will be given to the centre and then it will be distributed by the centre to the states in need.
As the Tamil Nadu government is accusing the centre over permitting and supporting the oil-to-metals conglomerate Vedanta, which owns the plant. In response to this accusation, the centre responded that, “No political bickering. We are in the time of a national crisis. We are here to protect lives of citizens. We have to support the nation as a court. It is a national calamity.”
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A special bench which is led by Justice D. Y. Chandrachud took a note that, “The nation must stand together in this moment. Supreme Court will supplement the work of High Courts. The apex court will not remain a mute spectator at the time of a national crisis. We intend to play a complementary role to High Courts, as they have a valuable role to play.”
The special bench asked the Tamil Nadu Government to form a special surveillance committee to keep a track on Vedanta, the committee will include: The district Collector, Tuticorin; SP Tuticorin; District Environmental Engineer; Sub collector Tuticorin; and two government officials with the related knowledge.
Vedanta said it was working with experts to resolve the logistics of dispatching oxygen. They also added that, “We are committed to making the entire production capacity of 1,000 tonnes available for the purpose of producing medical grade oxygen.”
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The copper plant of Sterlite was ordered to be shut by the Tamil Nadu government in May 2018. The state administration ordered its pollution control board to seal and “permanently” close the plant. And as the oxygen production is given to Vedanta, according to the SC Vedanta won’t be allowed to carry their work, the special team will decide the workers and rest of the arrangements.
