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No significant change in the concentration levels of SO2 was observed at the Ambient Air Quality Stations of Thoothukudi before 1-year and after 1-year of the closure of the Sterlite Copper plant operations, says a report, “Ambient Air Quality and Air Quality Index Trend in Thoothukudi and Comparison with Major Cities of India." The study was done in November 2021.
The 53-page report was drafted by RL Verma, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand; JS Kamyotra, Freelance Consultant, New Delhi; and Balram Ambade, National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. Their study reveals that Sterlite copper was in no way contributing to the poor air quality of Thoothukudi and hence, could not be blamed for the deteriorating air quality.
It was not clear if Sterlite was involved in the research. The company did not respond to queries.
The emissions of Sulphur-di-Oxide (SO2) from the operation of Sterlite Copper & Ind Bharath Thermal Power plant in Thoothukudi is less than 10 per cent of the total SO2 emissions in Thoothukudi. The closure of the Sterlite Copper and Ind Bharath will not make any change in the ambient concentration levels of SO2 in Thoothukudi, said the report.
The report clearing the air on pollution from Sterlite Copper comes nearly four years after the closure of the Sterlite Copper plant in Thoothukudi, after 13 protesters were killed in police firing in March 2018.
Company officials claimed that the Sterlite Copper plant was not responsible for the deteriorating air quality, and that “external forces with vested interests" were behind the incident. But, this had little or no impact on the authorities. The Tamil Nadu government ordered the pollution control board to seal the unit and close the plant permanently, the report said.
The study found the concentration levels of particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in Thoothukudi between 2015 and 2020 were not only comparable to those observed in Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai, which were coastal cities like Thoothukudi, but were also comparable with those at Manali, Cuddalore, and Coimbatore.
During the plant’s operation, the SO2 level of the air had gone up by just 1 micron per cubic meter at various sites. The decrease in the concentration levels of SO2 by about 1 (µg m-3) after the closing of plants, “is not conclusive and statistically insignificant considering the dynamic of the coastal environment and uncertainties in the monitoring and analysis methodology of SO2,” argue the authors.
Moreover, SO2 emissions from the operation of Sterlite Copper and its associated industries are less than 10 per cent of the total SO2 emissions in Thoothukudi. “Therefore, the closure of plants may not make any change in the ambient concentration levels of SO2 in Thoothukudi. Additionally, no significant change in the concentration levels of NO2 was observed before and after the closing of plants,” argue the authors.
“The lesser PM 10 concentration in the air quality between 2016-17 and 2020-21 could be probably because of the decrease in import and export and closing of economic activities at the VO Chidambaranar Port Trust and fewer movements of ships, cargos, heavy-duty vehicles such as trucks at the port, ” they argued.
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