August 6, 2013
Staff Reporter
The Hindu
Salem: Stones were thrown at car carrying a fact-finding team that was on its way to probe alleged environmental violations by a thermal plant in Mettur here on Monday afternoon.
The car’s windshield was damaged in the incident.
The incident took place when the team comprising Dr. Adithya Pradyumna of the Society for Community Health Awareness Research and Action (SOCHARA) and Kavin Malar, a journalist with a weekly magazine, were on their way to the company-operated coal yard in Thangamapuripatnam, near Mettur Railway Station.
The team was on its way to ascertain whether fly ash slurry and the heat generated by the hot drafts of air from two cooling towers were causing any pollution problem for residents in Ramamoorthy Nagar.
Other members accompanying the team were T.M. Ganesan of Gonur West Agriculturist Development Union, Muthkumaran and Kammalkannan of Speak Out based in Salem. However no one was injured in the incident.
Later, the car owner Kamalakannan lodged a complaint with the Karumalai Koodal police who registered a case under Section 3 (1) of Tamil Nadu Public Property (Prevention of Damaged and Loss) Act, 1992.
The team said that after meeting the company’s Public Relations Officer, they were moving towards the coal yard when their car was attacked.
Complaints
They had received complaints from the residents about the pollution issue and were studying the ground realities.