govt not responding to protests over Sterlite; Rajinikanth

Actor Rajinikanth today took a dig apparently at the the ruling AIADMK over the issue of the expansion of a copper smelter plant in Tuticorin, saying the government was not responding to the protests by locals.

In a tweet, the superstar said that people had been protesting against the Sterlite Copper smelter plant for the past 47 days citing health concerns.

"One can't understand why the government, which gave the nod for the plant, is not taking any action and is just watching," he said in a Tamil tweet.

A leading copper producer, Sterlite Copper represents the copper unit of Vedanta Limited, which operates a 400,000 tonnes per annum plant here.

The unit has been since closed for a fortnight from March 29 for taking up maintenance work.

Residents of A Kumarareddiyapuram village near the Sterlite unit have been agitating against the existing unit and its proposed expansion.

Various political parties, including DMK and MDMK have supported the people's protest.