Activists urge M K Stalin to not allow reopening of Sterlite Copper plant

They also urged to scrap the eight-way lane between Chennai and Salem

Sixty-seven prominent personalities, including popular actor Vijay Sethupathi, and ace filmmaker Vetri Maaran, on Wednesday, wrote to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister-elect M K Stalin demanding not allowing reopening of the Sterlite Copper plant, and scrapping the eight-way lane between Chennai and Salem.

In a petition, they said that directors of Vedanta, owner of Sterlite Copper, should be prosecuted for their “environmental crimes”, while demanding scrapping of the Chennai-Salem highway, Kanyakumari International Container Terminal, the Chittoor-Thachur six-lane Expressway, and setting up of four additional nuclear reactors in Koodankulam.

They also asked the new government to withdraw the erstwhile administration’s request for the denotification of Vedanthangal Sanctuary, and for the reduction of protective buffers for the Pulicat Sanctuary. They also wanted Tamil Nadu to prohibit the use of Genetically Engineered seeds, and appealed the new administration to bring in a comprehensive groundwater legislation with stringent norms to limit commercial extraction and use.

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“Evolve comprehensive policies against the forced eviction of economically-disadvantaged urban communities to distant and often environmentally-vulnerable areas, and for environmental and water body restoration that is socially inclusive and prioritises the urban aspirations of the city’s poor,” the petition signed by 67 prominent personalities said.

Besides enacting state-level laws to strengthen and realise the objectives of the CRZ and EIA Notifications, the petition called on the government to strengthen and build capacity among panchayat- and ward-level committees to monitor and act against environmentally degrading practices within their jurisdiction.

They also nudged the government to strengthen the pledge against hydrocarbon exploitation in the delta by including all delta districts and all hydrocarbon activity, including refining and processing. “Promote decentralised, small-scale renewable energy systems and announce an end to all proposed and in-the-pipeline coal thermal power projects in the state,” they further wrote.

The petition began with the signatories congratulating Stalin for steering the DMK to a victory and expressed happiness that the “spirit of Dravidianism, inclusivity, and social justice have prevailed over religious majoritarianism, caste politics, and linguistic purism.”

The signatories include Carnatic singer T M Krishna, educationist V Vasanthi Devi, D Hariparanthaman, former judge of the Madras High Court, environmental activist Nityanand Jayaraman, retired bureaucrat M G Devasahayam, and G Sundarrajan of Poovulagin Nanbargal.