COMMENT | TN government agencies should cop criticism over Sterlite fiasco

A private security guard stands in front of the main gate of Sterlite Industries Ltd's copper plant in Tuticorin

It will not come as a surprise if business schools soon have case studies of the Sterlite Copper issue as an example of bad governance. More than the company, it is the various state governments that have been in power that are to blame for the mess in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu.

Ironically, the political parties that are protesting against the plant have at some point or the other, been responsible for clearing the path for the plant.

Now, succumbing to the pressure of the so-called ‘peaceful’ protesters, the state government has asked Sterlite to shut down its unit. The writing was on the wall when the state Pollution Control Board was asked to seal and permanently close the plant following last week's violent protests in which 13 people were killed in police firing.

The fact that the protesters were the ones who were attackers was lost on the government amidst the political din in the area. The chief minister had justified the police firing in the initial days. The government also did not bother to look into the fact that the movement was instigated by political parties and foreign-funded NGOs and local religious bodies who had also protested a nuclear power plant in the Kudankulam region, nearly 100 km from the copper plant.

Former PM Manmohan Singh had publicly criticised non-governmental organisations with overseas funding for stalling the project. Though the state government held its ground in the case of the nuclear plant, it has succumbed to pressure in the Sterlite case.

In fact, in the Sterlite case, it is the government and the various agencies that should be asked to close down along with the plant for not doing what was required of them.

If what the protesters say is correct, then why had the state Pollution Control Board cleared the plant and allowed it to operate?

Sterlite claims that it has a transparent policy on disclosure of environmental issues. The company says that its sensor from its chimney is connected to the internet and open to public scrutiny.

As for water pollution, the company says that it has a zero effluent policy, something that is common in most manufacturing companies. Thus, the question of water pollution should not arise.

Government agencies, especially the fisheries, should be pulled up if what Sterlite's claims are true.

Why Sterlite’s case seems to be strong is because the district administration has done little in preventing environmental damage.

In an earlier case, the Supreme Court had directed Sterlite copper to deposit Rs 100 crore in a fixed deposit with Thoothukudi district administration. The interest from this amount was to be spent on improving the environment, including water and soil, in the vicinity of the plant.

Today the amount has grown to Rs 141 crore and the district administration has spent only Rs 7 crore. So was the district administration in the last five years unable to find enough projects to control pollution?

Sterlite Copper will naturally go to the courts to resolve the matter. The plant which accounts for nearly 40 percent of the country’s copper production would not only result in imports but is also said to affect direct and indirect employment of 25,000 people in the area.

The Tamil Nadu government has shown its weakness of succumbing to protests, even when the Chief Minister had said that the police was right in firing at the violent protesters.

Tamil Nadu has done worse than what the West Bengal government did to Tata Motors, when it asked the company to shift its plant. This is bad not only for the state, but for all the companies in the state, which may now fear labour activism.

As for Sterlite Copper’s shareholders, they have a strong case against the government and have a strong chance of winning, if they go to the courts. But if the courts ask the state government to compensate the company, it is the tax payer who would have to pay for bad governance and anarchism, not to mention the thousands who will now be unemployed.