Kanimozhi slams Centre for allowing Vedanta to mine tungsten in TN

DMK leader Kanimozhi has criticized the Centre for allowing Vedanta-Hindustan Zinc to mine tungsten at Nayakkarpatti in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai.

Tungsten mining may “devastate local ecosystems and displace communities”, she said, citing at the same time “Vedanta’s history of environmental destruction and human suffering” to make her point. She spoke of the Thoothukudi Sterlite tragedy, also involving the same company, to seek that the Centre revoke the decision.

Vedanta’s dubious history

The Vedanta Group’s Sterlite Copper Plant in Thoothukudi was shut down in May 2018 after 13 people were killed in police firing to quell a protest over alleged pollution caused by copper smelting. The Supreme Court on February 29 this year dismissed a plea by the Vedanta Group seeking reopening of the plant.

“I strongly condemn the Union Government for permitting Vedanta-Hindustan Zinc to mine tungsten in Nayakkarpatti, Madurai. This move ignores Vedanta’s history of environmental destruction and human suffering, as seen in Thoothukudi’s Sterlite tragedy,” read the Thoothukudi MP’s X post.

“Tungsten mining risks devastating local ecosystems, displacing communities, and violating people's rights. The government must respect the voices of the local people and revoke this decision immediately!” she added in the post.

Also read: Setback for Sterlite: SC dismisses plea to reopen Thoothukudi plant

Ecologically sensitive zone

Hindustan Zinc Ltd, a subsidiary of Vedanta group, has reportedly won an auction to mine tungsten on some 2015 hectares of land in Madurai district. The land chosen by the Union Ministry of Mines for tungsten mining is reportedly close to Arittapatti, the first region to be notified as a Biodiversity Heritage Site of Tamil Nadu, in 2022.

Activists and local villagers have already objected to tungsten mining in the ecologically sensitive zone and urged the DMK-led state government to refuse permission to the Centre for the project.

Tungsten is a metal with a wide range of uses, including electronics to aerospace to jewellery making to medical appliances.