In Thoothukkudi, the protests took a violent turn on May 22 when police opened fire on the protesters, which killed 13 people and left at least 102 injured.
According to the Telegraph, the state pollution control board had on April 9 denied the 20-year-old Sterlite Copper plant's application for a licence renewal and it had stopped operating. But the protesters, agitating since February, feared this was a temporary stoppage and were demanding it be shut down permanently.
More than 20,000 people, including a large number of fishermen, marched towards the collectorate on Tuesday, alleging the factory was causing illness and had contaminated the groundwater, affecting farming within a 50km radius.
Reports said around a dozen people were injured in the protests. Nearly 30 vehicles were torched by protesters who vandalised the collectorate at Thoothukkudi (Tuticorin), about 600km from Chennai.