Tamil Nadu: Massive Protest By Farmers, Villagers In Madurai Against Tungsten Mining Project

Over 10,000 farmers and villagers from Melur and nearby regions staged a massive 25-km procession on Tuesday (7 Januar), demanding the cancellation of the proposed tungsten mining project in Melur taluk, Madurai district.

The protestors marched from Narasingampatti to Tallakulam in Madurai city, voicing concerns over environmental destruction and livelihood loss.

The procession, comprising vehicles like cars, bikes, tractors, buses, and lorries, began at a temple in Narasingampatti and moved along the Tiruchi-Madurai National Highway, passing landmarks such as the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and the district court before reaching Tallakulam.

Despite police efforts to cordon off key junctions, the protesters removed barricades and proceeded, leading to alleged detentions by the police.

Condemning the arrests, protestors refused to disperse and raised slogans demanding their release.

They also criticised the Union government for continuing the mining project despite opposition from the people and the Tamil Nadu government.

“Plenty of damage has been caused to the environment through projects like granite-quarrying. We cannot withstand the destruction to our land anymore,” the protesters stated.

S Rethinavelu, president of the Agro Food Chamber of Commerce and Industry, emphasised the potential harm to agriculture, which he described as the region’s sole livelihood source.

Prominent figures such as Madurai deputy mayor T Nagarajan and farmer leader P R Pandian joined the protest.

The issue has sparked a political blame game.

BJP Tamil Nadu president K Annamalai accused the ruling DMK of enacting a “drama” by pretending to oppose the project.

“It did not oppose the project till the auction. As people started raising concerns, it is pretending to oppose it,” Annamalai alleged on social media.

Finance minister Thangam Thennarasu, however, blamed the AIADMK for the tungsten mining issue, citing their support for the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2023, in Parliament.

“It was AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP (M Thambidurai) who supported the mining Bill, which granted rights to the Union government to auction strategic minerals. The Act took away the rights of states to auction minerals, resulting in the Union government auctioning tungsten,” he said.

Responding to a calling attention motion, Thennarasu asserted that the DMK government had opposed tungsten mining “in all forms” and introduced a resolution urging the Union government to cancel the auction. The resolution was passed unanimously.

AIADMK deputy leader of opposition R B Udhayakumar refuted the claims, stating that the party’s support was only for the auction method and not for mining.

“Earlier, there was no proper method to auction minerals, and as the bill provided a proper auction method, our party supported it,” he explained.

Chief minister MK Stalin countered Udhayakumar, stating that all 38 DMK MPs opposed the bill, while AIADMK’s Thambidurai supported it.

“I can submit the proof (of AIADMK’s support to the Bill) to the speaker. We can decide later,” Stalin said.

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