Madras HC stays construction of Sterlite copper plant

The Madurai bench of Madras High Court on Wednesday stayed the construction of a new copper smelter by the Sterlite copper mining industry in Tamil Nadu's Thoothukudi.

On Tuesday, 11 people were killed and more than 65 other injured during protests against the construction of the new copper unit.

The locals are up in arms against the construction of the copper plant, claiming that the plant would pollute groundwater in their area, and causing serious environmental hazards.

The agitation turned violent after protestors were not allowed to march up to the plant, who then began to pelt stones and toppled police vehicles.

Police officials also resorted to lathi-charge and tear gas to disperse the crowd to contain the situation.