The achievement of the people of Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, southern India, in securing the closure of the dangerous Vedanta copper smelting plant deserves congratulation, although it is sad that it was achieved at the cost of 13 lives through police action (Report, 29 May).
But it is too soon to claim success, as the people of Bhopal, further north in Madhya Pradesh, could warn. Your report mentions high levels of pollution in groundwater but says nothing about cleansing the site, so local people’s health will still suffer.
The struggle for justice in Bhopal has lasted 33 years. Contamination of the groundwater in Bhopal preceded the 1984 poison gas leak and continues to spread through the inaction of those responsible.
Annie Murray and Martin Lloyd
Purley-on-Thames, Berkshire
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