DMK MLAs walk out of Assembly in protest against re-opening of Sterlite plant

Hours after the Supreme Court ordered re-opening of Vedanta's Sterlite copper smelter plant at Thoothukudi, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MLAs on Tuesday staged a walk-out from Tamil Nadu Assembly.

DMK MLAs had urged Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami to convene a Cabinet meeting to take a firm policy decision on the issue.

DMK president MK Stalin told reporters: "We expected the Chief Minister to immediately convene a meeting of the Cabinet to take a firm policy decision on the matter."

"Unfortunately nothing was done. In protest against this, we today walked out from the Assembly," added the DMK president.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court refused to stay the National Green Tribunal's (NGT) order of setting aside Tamil Nadu government's decision to close the plant. Tamil Nadu government had approached the Apex Court challenging the NGT.

On December 15 last year, the green tribunal had set aside Tamil Nadu government's order for closing Sterlite plant. NGT had directed the state government to roll-out fresh orders for the renewal of consent for Vedanta's copper smelter plant within a span of three weeks.

The NGT also directed the firm to spend Rs 100 crore in a period of three years for the welfare of the people residing in nearby areas.

It is worth mentioning that in May last year, as many as 13 people were killed and several others were injured in the alleged police firing during the violent protest against Sterlite plant in Tuticorin.

The people there were protesting against the construction of the Sterlite copper plant, claiming that it was polluting groundwater, and was hazardous for the environment.

Taking note of the people's demand, Tamil Nadu government on May 28 last year had ordered the closure of the plant.