In its counter affidavit in the Madras high court in response to Neeri's report, Sterlite's senior vice president Deb Kumar submitted that closure of the plant affected the livelihood of about 3,000 persons, directly or indirectly employed by the plant, besides resulting in a daily operation loss of about Rs 2.5 crore.

On November 23, the green bench of the court comprising chief justice MS Liberhan and justice E Padmanabhan had ordered closure of the plant following submission of a report by Neeri on the plant's functioning. The institute had been asked to study the functioning of the plant following a writ petition.

The plant's name was linked to a mysterious gas leakthat led to 90 women workers fainting in a nearby cut flower plant on June 5, 1997, while a rotary holding furnace blast on Aug 31, 1997, claimed two lives. A fortnight back a leak in a sulphuric acid pipe caused burns to five workers.

Contending that closure of the plant on the basis of the report was against the interest of justice, the counter said and added that Neeri had not provided any substantial evidence to warrant closure of the plant.

Referring to Neeri's submission that the plant was located within 25 kms of the ecological fragile area, the counter contended that the 25-km rule was not mandatory but only a guideline prescribed by the union ministry of environment and forests.