A number of stakeholders have submitted petitions to the Collector seeking the reopening of the Sterlite Copper plant.
They said that the closure of the plant had hit jobs in the district. They also claimed that the protests had been “instigated” by groups such as Makkal Athigaram.
Residents claim that these petitions are stage-managed by the company, and add that there’s been no change of mind. “I find the water to be a lot cleaner now. It doesn’t cause any skin irritation,” says a woman at Kumarettiyapuram, a village close to the plant where the protests started. “We’ll continue to oppose the plant.”