AIADMK MLA R. B. Udhayakumar and his supporters were detained by the police for staging a protest in support of residents of a few villages near Kalligudi in Madurai district on Wednesday.
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The villagers demanded the closure of an industrial unit in the area. Mr. Udhayakumar said that the industrial unit, which processed poultry waste and converted it into protein powder used as nutrients for plants, polluted the environment and it affected the health of the villagers. The demands of the people should be met, he said. He and others who were detained by the police were later let off in the evening.
Residents of the two villages - Chennampatti and Peikulam - and other villages such as Odaipatti, Melapatti and Solampatti demand the permanent closure of an industrial unit located in nearby Avalsurampatti. They boycotted the Lok Sabha polls.
While no votes were polled in Chennampatti and Peikulam, villages with over 1,000 votes each, in the nearby villages Odaipatti, Melapatti and Solampatti, which also joined the boycott, less number of voters had turned up to cast their votes on the day of the poll.
The villagers had alleged that the company polluted the environment and it had led to health hazards among the villagers. In a statement, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board officials said that there was no violation and the unit was functioning as per norms.