Sterlite got green clearance after TN pollution panel nod: Official
New Delhi, May 25: The Union Environment Ministry had given clearance to the controversial Sterlite plant in Tamil Nadu's Thoothukudi after getting a go-ahead from the state pollution control board, an official said on Friday, dismissing the allegations that the Central government had directly cleared the copper smelting unit.
"No unit can operate in India, primarily, without the environmental clearance by the local pollution control board and this forms the basis for us to give environmental clearances," the official said, requesting anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media over the issue.
He, however, admitted that no public consultation had been conducted when the clearance was given in 2009.
The plant on Tuesday triggered the widespread protest in Thoothukudi, in which the death toll has rised to 13. The Madras High Court on Wednesday ordered a stay on the expansion of the copper plant.
In reply to a question on why the plant had not been initially ordered to shut down, the official said: "We need to check the records (to know that)."
"We have already sought a report from the District Collector and Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board," said the official on the sidelines of a curtain raiser press conference in the run-up to World Environment Day by Environment Forest and Climate Change Minister Harsh Vardhan.
The minister, however, refused to take media queries about the violence and the operations of the Vedanta-run copper plant.
"Let's stick to the theme and do not deviate from the topic," he said in reply to questions about the issue.
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Dalit girl gang-raped in moving car in Mathura, accused on run
Mathura (PTI): A Dalit girl was allegedly gang-raped by three persons here in a moving car, after which she was thrown out on the side of a road, police said on Friday.
An FIR has been lodged against the accused following a complaint from the minor's father and efforts are on to arrest the trio, they added.
Superintendent of Police (Rural) Trigun Bisen said the girl, who is around 13-year-old, has been sent to the district women's hospital for a medical examination, after which her statement will be recorded before the magistrate.
Citing the complaint lodged by the girl's father, the SP said the incident took place on Thursday when the the minor went to a shop in her neighbourhood to buy items for breakfast.
At the shop, a man named Neeraj allegedly gave her a bottle of water laced with sedatives. As soon as she drank the water, she started feeling dizzy and fainted, the complaint said.
Neeraj, his friend Shailendra and another associate then allegedly took her away in a car. They raped the girl in the moving car while she was in a semi-conscious state and threw her out under the flyover of Barsana Road before fleeing.
On regaining consciousness, the girl reached home and informed her parents about the incident, the complaint added.
According to the SP, while narrating her ordeal, the condition of the girl deteriorated and the family immediately took her to a doctor, who also confirmed that she was raped. Following this, her parents filed a complaint at the Chhata police station.
Bisen said that a case has been registered and the matter is being probed, adding that efforts are on to arrest the three accused persons.
