TTP to be reopened on Nov. 28

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, NOV. 24. The public sector Travancore Titanium Products (TTP) which was shut down for 27 days following an agitation by local people will be reopened on November 28. This follows the settlement reached at a conciliatory meeting convened by the Industries Minister, Mrs. Suseela Gopalan, here today with the representatives of the local populace. The plant was shut down on October 28 after the forcible closure of the effluent discharge pipe.

The Government agreed to appoint a retired High Court judge as a Commission to look into the various aspects of job reservation for the professionally-affected families in the neighbourhood of the factory. The terms of reference of the Commission will be worked out soon. The Commission will be asked to submit its report in two months. Government sources said the Commission would examine the previous appointments and recommend changes to the reservation norms. It was also agreed to suspend appointments under the compensatory job reservation scheme till the Commission submitted its report.

Representatives of the Coastal Uplift Association which had led the agitation against the plant agreed to cooperate with the factory management in reopening the blocked discharge pipe.

The Government side agreed to complete the work on the effluent treatment plant on a time-bound basis. Work orders for the project will be issued by mid-January and the civil works will commence by mid-March.

The meeting also decided to expedite the welfare schemes for the local people utilising the special fund of Rs. 2 crores. The projects to be taken up under the scheme will be approved at a meeting of the welfare committee to be convened by the District Collector on December 2. The projects will be formally launched in December.

Work on a speciality hospital for the pollution victims will also be speeded up. The Industries Minister, the MLAs, Mr. Antony Raju and Mr. Kadakampally Surendran, the Industries Principal Secretary, Mr. K. Mohandas, the TTP Managing Director, Mr. G. Sivaprakash, Fr. Eugene Pereira of the Thiruvananthapuram diocese and office- bearers of the Coastal Uplift Association participated in the meeting. Mr. Sivaprakash said it would take just 12 hours for the factory to begin functioning, once the effluent discharge pipe was reopened. The 27-day shut-down has resulted in a production loss of about Rs. 10 crores for the company, which had registered a profit of Rs. 13 crores last year.

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Section  : Southern States
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