HC admits PIL against Tata's titanium project

The Madurai Bench of the Madras high court has admitted a public interest litigation seeking to restrain the government from clearing Tata Group's Rs 2,500 crore (Rs 25 billion) titanium dioxide project in Tamil Nadu without conducting environmental impact assessment.

Justices Prafulla Kumar Misra and P R Shivakumar issued notice on Tuesday to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, Tamil Nadu government, Project Director of Tata Iron and Steel Company and State Pollution Control Board, returnable in four weeks.

A farmers' association of Tirunelveli district had filed the petition claiming that EIA was mandatory for the project to be implemented in 16,000 acres of land, of which around 3,000 acres would be on the sea shore.

According a study conducted in West Africa, titanium dioxide extraction caused deforestation, relocation of villages, chemical pollution and radioactivity besides emission of carcinogenic dioxins into the atmosphere.