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The strange story of Sterlite in Tuticorin

In the last week of August, Anton Gomez of the Anti-Sterlite Forum went on an indefinite fast demanding the closure of the Sterlite factory at Tuticorin. An earlier fast of his forced Sterlite to abandon its project to build a pipeline to the sea. The pipeline was to carry the effluents.

Gomez was arrested by the police and taken to hospital. He came back from the hospital to continue the fast. Then he gave up his fast on the request of V Gopalsamy of the MDMK.

On August 30, the Anti-Sterlite Forum announced that they would gherao Sterlite. There was a public meeting near the Cruze Fernandes statue in Tuticorin town. The meeting was addressed, by various leaders including Gopalsamy. From here, they marched towards the Sterlite plant. They were stopped by the police inside Tuticorin town and arrested. They were let off in the evening.

On the same night, the Tuticorin residents heard four blasts. The blasts must have been massive because Sterlite is located five kilometers from Tuticorin town.

The blasts had occurred in Sterlite's rotary holding furnace. After the copper ore is melted, it flows into the rotary holding furnace. Here the heavier Copper settlers at the bottom and in drained out. The slag at the top is removed. The temperature inside this furnace is as high as 12,000 degree Celsius. It can take 125 tonnes of copper at a time. This furnace had a lid that alone is said to weight 40 tonnes. After the blasts, this lid was uprooted and thrown six metres away.

The blasts occurred at 2210 hours IST, August 30. The second shift had ended at 2200 hours and the third shift just began duty. A quick headcount revealed that three men were missing. The accident site could not be approached as copper at 12,000 degrees C was flowing out.

A phone call to the fire brigade revealed that the fire engine had gone to Tiruchendor -- 50 km away. Fortunately, Sterlite has its own fire engine. The flames were finally put out by 0100 hours, August 31.

Two persons, both contract workers, who had just finished work at 2200 hours, were burnt to death. The third was admitted in hospital with 40 per cent burns. He is now out of danger.

General Manager (Commerce) K Ranganathan was emphatic that it was intentional sabotage. But how could anyone enter the furnace, blazing at 12,000 degrees C, to plant explosives. And if the explosives were planted outside, the furnace should have collapsed inwards, and not been flung six metres away.

Sterlite is heavily guarded. You can go to the office. Getting into the plant area without a employee escorting you is impossible.

The employee who was supposed to show me the plant was petrified about going inside. He kept looking up as if he expected the roof to fall on him. He suggested we wait for helmets. He came in reluctantly after I pointed out women who were walking around without helmets.

The copper inside the furnace had not been removed. The 40 tonnes lid which had been blown away had been shifted by a crane.

It was twisted and out of shape. What force would have been needed to twist a 40-tonnes lid? And if there was something in the copper that caused the explosion -- why didn't it explode in the smelter furnace itself?

Five workmen wore repairing the lid. They were welding it.

The entry into the plant area is like entering another high-tech planet. The pipes, furnace, storage tanks, everything is gigantic. Warnings abound on all sides, such as:
1: Sulphuric acid -- Danger;
2: Chemical Burns -- Stand Under a Shower for 15 Minutes;
3: Safety Depends on Your Action -- Do Not Leave it to Somebody Else;
4: Be Careful - Don't Injure Another by Your Carelessness.

They seem to want to drill 'safety' into the work force's mind.

Young girls and uneducated women tend the gardens in the factory. They don't seem to be aware of any danger.

Sterlite has faced a turbulent time in Tuticorin. As it is, it started with the stigma 'Thrown out of Ratnagiri'.

So far within a year, it has stopped production four times. The first time, there was some technical difficulty. Second time, because there was no water. Third time, when 100 workers at the neighbouring Ramesh Flowers were hospitalised due an alleged gas leak. This is the fourth occasion, but the first time that two workers have been killed.

Earlier, gas cylinders had exploded in Sterlite but nobody was hurt.

Opposite Sterlite is the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board site. On August 20, employees here are said to have complained that some people had fainted. TNEB superintending engineer, along with Sterlite officials, visited the TNEB site. They did not find anything wrong. The local press claimed that a man who spoke Tamil with a Malayalam accent, had telephoned them with the allegations of the fainting.

Tuticorin is a highly industrialised district with several important industries that include a port, a thermal plant, a heavy water project, Spic, DCW, and several other industries. It is common knowledge that none of the other industries love Sterlite. Sterlite, which is a new entrant in this area, pays the highest wages. This has resulted in a brain drain from the neighbouring industries.

Farmers detest Sterlite because in a district which faces a perennial water shortage, Sterlite uses 6.5 million litres of water everyday.

So we do not know who Sterlite implies when it talks about intentional sabotage.

As expected, Sterlite was given a clean certificate in the 'Ramesh Flower' gas tragedy. The government said that the reason for Ramesh Flowers employees vomitting was not due to sulphur dioxide. But then what caused the vomitting? Sterlite, Ramesh Flowers, and the government are silent on this all-important question.

For its closure due to the alleged gas leak, Sterlite has sent a legal notice to Ramesh Flowers threatening to sue the company for Rs 1 billion. Ramesh Flowers has replied. Both sides refuse to comment on the matter. Both sides state: "We leave it to our legal department."

The accident site has been examined by the police and by the bomb detective and defusing squad. After they finished their investigation, they concluded that the blasts occurred due to a fault in the rotary holding furnace and have forbidden Sterlite from continuing its operations until further notice.

EARLIER REPORTS:
TN bars Sterlite from using furnace
Blast at Sterlite claims 2 lives
Sterlite resumes operations
Did the gas leak occur in Sterlite or Ramesh Flowers