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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Thoothukudi Isn't Alone - Tamil Nadu Has Been Rising in Protest for Decades -Poonkuzhali

Thoothukudi Isn't Alone - Tamil Nadu Has Been Rising in Protest for Decades -Poonkuzhali

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published Published on Jun 19, 2018   modified Modified on Jun 19, 2018
-TheWire.in

Chennai:
The Tamil Nadu Government has announced a ban on the use of plastics from January 1, 2019. This is a remarkable move aimed towards reducing the amount of plastic waste generated in the state. But is this enough to save the environment in the state?

This announcement came barely a fortnight after the brutal killing of 13 people protesting against the Sterlite Copper unit in Thoothukudi. Sterlite Copper is one of the largest contributors to environmental pollution in Thoothukudi district – but not the only one. The Geological Society of India, in a journal article published in July 2017, stated, “Spatial interpolation of inverse distance method maps of all the elements suggested that discharge of effluents from chemical factory, … municipal wastewater and fertilizers were added to the natural sources.”

This indicates that though Sterlite Copper may have been closed, there is no assurance that the pollution in the city is under control. As a result, the need for a people’s movement to save Thoothukudi persists, as does the need for similar movements across the state.

Thoothukudi is not alone in its suffering, nor is its people’s movement the first of its kind in Tamil Nadu. The state has had a legacy on this front right since the days of Periyar’s self-respect movement in the 1920s. The people of Tamil Nadu have never hesitated to raise their voice against injustice, fight for their rights and organise against the establishment.

It is also not surprising that many of these movements in recent times are founded on environmental protection above all else. Having lost trust in lawmakers – both bureaucracy and politicians – the people have found their own ways to securing their rights and livelihood. They don’t ask for the support of popular leaders or the backing of political parties. They have often been met with physical, legal and mental oppression by the state. A few have succeeded; many others fight on. Thanks to the martyrs of the Sterlite protest, the issue has now received global attention.

The people of Cuddalore are waiting for this movement. The State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT) unit in Cuddalore was established in 1984 for chemical industries, over 518.79 acres of land. Since then, the groundwater in the compound and in surrounding areas has become polluted and unusable. According to an analysis by the SIPCOT Area Community Environmental Monitors (SACEM) in 2014, the groundwater in and around SIPCOT contains carcinogenic chemicals and is unfit for human consumption.

SACEM also reported that people who had consumed the water have reported abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, intestinal bleeding, affected kidneys, bones, lungs, liver and nervous system and cancer, irritation and ulcers in the stomach and small intestine and anaemia and slower growth rate and mental development among children. Including SACEM, there are various groups agitating for more than 10 years  to have SIPCOT closed.

Please click here to read more.
 

TheWire.in, 19 June, 2018, https://thewire.in/environment/thoothukudi-isnt-alone-tamil-nadu-has-been-rising-in-protest-for-decades


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