Technical report clears air on pollution from Sterlite plant

Since the firing incident, the future of India’s biggest copper plant hangs in balance, forcing the country to turn into a net importer from a net exporter of copper.

The copper smelter plant, with a capacity of 400,000 metric tonnes per annum (MTPA), was contributing up to 36 per cent of the country’s demand for refined copper and included a refinery and copper rod plant, a sulphuric acid plant of more than 12,00,000 MTPA, a phosphoric acid plant of 220,000 MTPA. It also had a 160 MW coal-based power plant to power the copper smelter.

The company officials have consistently claimed that the state-of-the-art plant was not responsible for the deteriorating air quality, and that “external forces with vested interests” were behind the incident.

The Tamil Nadu government ordered the pollution control board to seal the unit and close the plant permanently under the provisions of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.

However, a recent study of November 2021, titled “Ambient Air Quality and Air Quality Index Trend in Thoothukudi and comparison with Major Cities of India” by three eminent scientists seems to corroborate the views of the company officials.

Their study clearly revealed that Sterlite copper was in no way contributing to the poor air quality of Thoothukudi and hence, could not be blamed for the deteriorating air quality, according to study which was released here today.