New Delhi, May 27: Even as Tamil Nadu remains tense over the death of 13 protesters in the anti-Sterlite agitation, Union Environment Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan claims he has not heard much about the issue. Further, he puts the onus on the erstwhile government for the plight faced by the locals.

"I've read something about it in newspapers. We'll certainly look into what's actually happening. All this happened in tenure of last government. But I don't want to get into that and make an issue out of it," Dr Harsh Vardhan said.

The protests against Sterlite began over 100 days ago, after the company announced its expansion plans, with the aim to double its copper smelting output to 8,00,000 tonners per annum.

The locals in Tuticorin, the port city where the Sterlite plant is based, have alleged "severe contamination" of air due to the pollutants released by the company, apart from an "irreparable loss" being caused to the ground water resources.

Tensions flared up in the past week, when 13 protesters were killed in firing by the state police personnel. Section 144 CrPC was subsequently imposed in the city t prevent galvanisation of supporters.

In Chennai, the Opposition DMK launched a rigorous protest against the AIADMK government, seeking the resignation of CM E Palaniswami over the deaths of the protesters.

The Sterlite group is a majority-owned subsidiary of UK-based Vedanta, which has been a donor of both the BJP and the Congress in the past, as per the data shared by the Association of Democratic Reforms.

"This is the reason why we have a central government which is more concerned about the corporate interests than the plight of the people, and it is also the reason why we have meak national Opposition which would neither question Vedanta nor Sterlite, but attempt to divert the issue," said Swaraj India president Yogendra Yadav.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 27, 2018 11:05 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).