THOOTHUKUDI, India: An Indian state on Monday ordered the permanent closure of a copper smelter controlled by London-listed Vedanta Resources after 13 people protesting to demand its shutdown on environmental concerns were killed last week.
“We have taken a decision to permanently shut down the plant and today issued government orders to do the same,” Edappadi K Palaniswami, chief minister of the southern state of Tamil Nadu said in a statement after meeting officials, including from the pollution department.
Residents and environmental activists have long demanded a shutdown of the copper smelter, India’s second-biggest with an annual production of more than 400,000 tons, citing air and water pollution. Vedanta denies the accusations of pollution.
The company on Monday called the closure of the plant it has operated for over 22 years an “unfortunate development.”
“We will study the order and decide on the future course of action,” Vedanta told Reuters in a statement.
As news of a government order to shut the plant spread, about 100 locals gathered to witness the sealing of the smelter’s main entrance. Fatima Babu, a long-time campaigner against the plant, arrived at the smelter’s entrance shouting “Thank you authorities.”
“We are finally free, we could have been happier if so many people had not died. This is for all of them,” Muthu Pandi, a driver who had come to see the plant being shut, told Reuters.
The district’s main administrative officer, called the collector, supervised the sealing as the crowd whistled and cheered from behind police barricades placed 50 meters away from the entrance. They shouted “Long live the collector,” as the collector’s car departed.
In the heart of the city, locals gathered near an electrical appliances showroom to watch the news on TV channels.
The chief of Vedanta’s India copper business, P. Ramnath, told Reuters on Friday the company would legally fight any attempt to close the plant and it aimed to “build our bridges” with the community.
The plant, in the coastal city of Thoothukudi, has been shut since late March for maintenance and pending a renewal of its license, even as residents continued largely peaceful protests demanding it be shut for good.
The opposition escalated on Tuesday when thousands of people marched toward a government office on the 100th day of the protest. Ten people were killed in police firing that day; three more died in subsequent days.
Vedanta says it has already evacuated about 3,500 employees from the plant site due to the tensions. (Additional reporting by Malini Menon Writing by Krishna N. Das Editing by Robert Birsel/David Evans)
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India closes British-owned Vedanta copper smelter permanently after bloody protest
India closes British-owned Vedanta copper smelter permanently after bloody protest
- Residents and environmental activists have long demanded a shutdown of the copper smelter
- The plant it has operated for over 22 years
China hits US defense firms with sanctions over arms sales to Taiwan
BEIJING: China’s foreign ministry announced sanctions on Friday targeting 10 individuals and 20 US defense firms, including Boeing’s St. Louis branch, over arms sales to Taiwan.
The measures freeze any assets the companies and individuals hold in China and bar domestic organizations and individuals from doing business with them, the ministry said.
Individuals on the list, including the founder of defense firm Anduril Industries and nine senior executives from the sanctioned firms, are also banned from entering China, it added.
Other companies targeted include Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation and L3Harris Maritime Services.
The move follows Washington’s announcement last week of $11.1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan, the largest ever US weapons package for the island, drawing Beijing’s ire.
“The Taiwan issue is the core of China’s core interests and the first red line that cannot be crossed in China-US relations,” a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement on Friday.
“Any provocative actions that cross the line on the Taiwan issue will be met with a strong response from China,” the statement said, urging the US to cease “dangerous” efforts to arm the island.
China views democratically-governed Taiwan as part of its own territory, a claim Taipei rejects.
The US is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, though such arms sales are a persistent source of friction with China.
The measures freeze any assets the companies and individuals hold in China and bar domestic organizations and individuals from doing business with them, the ministry said.
Individuals on the list, including the founder of defense firm Anduril Industries and nine senior executives from the sanctioned firms, are also banned from entering China, it added.
Other companies targeted include Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation and L3Harris Maritime Services.
The move follows Washington’s announcement last week of $11.1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan, the largest ever US weapons package for the island, drawing Beijing’s ire.
“The Taiwan issue is the core of China’s core interests and the first red line that cannot be crossed in China-US relations,” a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement on Friday.
“Any provocative actions that cross the line on the Taiwan issue will be met with a strong response from China,” the statement said, urging the US to cease “dangerous” efforts to arm the island.
China views democratically-governed Taiwan as part of its own territory, a claim Taipei rejects.
The US is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, though such arms sales are a persistent source of friction with China.
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