Thoothukudi: “We are not going to allow Sterlite to run as of now,” categorically stated the Thoothukudi district collector though the Supreme Court refused to stay the National Green Tribunal’s order on the Tamil Nadu government’s appeal against the NGT order to reopen Sterlite smelter plant here on Tuesday.
Echoing the Tamil Nadu government’s stand of not allowing Sterlite to resume operation until the final judgment is pronounced in the civil appeal of the government pending with the apex court, the Thoothukudi district collector added that the question of accepting an application from the copper smelter plant for renewal of consent to operate (CTO) and restoration of power supply does not arise as government is not going to consider it before the company complies with the conditions laid down by the court.
When asked whether the applications submitted by Sterlite for renewal of consent would be accepted if the company complied with all the conditions laid down for renewal of CTO, the collector retorted that he could not comment on hypothetical questions and added, “We are not going to allow Sterlite to run as of now.”
The collector gave the same assurance to anti-Sterlite activist Prof Fathima Babu, who petitioned the collector stressing that the plant should not be reopened.
However, reacting to the collector’s statement, a Sterlite official said that the collector’s statement would amount to contempt of court as the Supreme Court has refused to stay the NGT order stating, “directions passed by the NGT will continue to subsist.”
He pointed that the Supreme Court had also directed the company to file an interim application in the event that the State government does not allow the company to open the plant and have access to it.
