The Supreme Court on Friday suggested that the Tamil Nadu government takes over Vedanta’s plant in the state to produce oxygen as the country battles a terrible second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, reported Bar and Bench.
The court was hearing a plea by Vedanta seeking opening of its Sterlite copper unit at Tuticorin on the ground that it would produce oxygen and give it free of cost to treat coronavirus patients. While the Centre has backed the plea, the Tamil Nadu government has opposed it.
Senior Advocate CS Vaidyanathan, appearing for Tamil Nadu, told the court that reopening the plant could pose law and order problems since the public was opposed to it. “I don’t want a repeat of 2018 incident,” said Vaidyanathan.
He was referring to the incident in which 13 people protesting against the expansion of Vedanta’s copper smelter plant were killed in police firing on May 22, 2018. Residents of the area have consistently claimed the plant contaminated the…