Tamil Nadu: Vedampattu people boycott voting and call for a plant to close

Over 800 Vedampattu voters boycotted the polls on Friday in an effort to voice their displeasure with the district administration and the State government for failing to close a facility that processes dangerous medical waste. The concerned authorities issued a warning to the plant management after hearing their requests, but most of the villagers were unable to cast ballots since there was not enough time for them to go to the polls.

The locals were promised action by the district government, but they insisted on an immediate stop to industrial activities. D Mariamma (43), a peasant, said that the factory’s hazardous wastes were contaminating neighboring bodies of water and that they were experiencing serious lung problems as a result of burning medical waste. She said, “I have lost 10 cows and 15 goats, which had drunk water from a pond near the factory,” and she pleaded for the business to be shut down right once to prevent any more deaths.

Ten women had uterine problems as a result of the pollution, according to the locals, and five more had hysterectomy. Another villager, 45-year-old S Vasanthi, said that in the last several years, uterine and ovarian diseases had become more common among women under 45. Two years ago, Vasanthi lost her spouse Shankar. “I was recently diagnosed with a cyst in my uterus and the medication is causing side effects like thyroid,” she added. According to reports, he asphyxiated to death while working on the MG-NREGA initiative, inhaling hazardous gasses while desilting a pond.

Official sources said that after an examination, the factory’s Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOC) sensor was not being properly maintained, and that the management was burning garbage at night. The plant management received a show cause notice from the district environmental engineer requesting a response by April 23. However, by the time the summons was sent out, people could not make it to the polls.