Case against 5,000 farmers, women who took out anti-tungsten mining rally in Madurai

CHENNAI: A case has been registered against around 5,000 farmers and women from about 40 villages in Madurai's Melur and its neighbourhood who took out a massive rally on Tuesday demanding the Centre to scrap the Tungsten mining project at Nayakkarpatti village.

According to a Thanthi TV report, the Tallakulam police have filed a case under two sections for alleged violation of permit restrictions.

The nearly 25-km long march from Narasingampatti village on the Tiruchirappalli-Madurai national highway to the Head Post Office at Tallakulam in the city saw the participation of farm workers and women too. The protesters voiced concern over the possible environmental and social impact if Tungsten was mined.

There were some tense moments when police stopped the protesters from entering the city at Mattuthavani. Later, the police allowed them to resume the rally.

Meanwhile, denying a charge of AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, State Law Minister S Regupathy said police had granted permission to the people to take out the rally

The villagers have been agitating for over a month demanding the Centre to rescind its decision of awarding Tungsten mining to Hindustan Zinc Limited in about 5,000 acres of land spread across ten villages in Melur taluk. The issue even echoed the state Legislative Assembly leading to the House adopting a unanimous resolution in December 2024 asking the Centre to cancel the mining proposal.

(With PTI inputs)