Tamil Nadu pollution board appeals against Sterlite smelter reopening

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The pollution control board of Tamil Nadu has lodged an appeal with the Supreme Court against an interim order allowing the country's top copper smelter to reopen after it was shut on March 30 following complaints of emissions, a lawyer told Reuters.

"The top court's vacation bench is likely to hear our case on Friday," said Abdul Saleem, a lawyer for the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board.

On May 31, a fast-track environmental court said the smelter run by Sterlite Industries , a unit of London-listed Vedanta , can resume operations overseen by a court-appointed panel.

Its closure had squeezed domestic copper supplies and boosted imports.

 

(Reporting by Krishna N Das; Editing by Jo Winterbottom)