Chennai, May 1 (IANS): The Tamil Nadu government has constituted a seven member panel to monitor the Vedanta oxygen plant at Tuticorin as per the orders of the Supreme Court to supervise the entire production of oxygen at Vedanta's Sterlite plant.

The seven member team constituted by the Government comprises the Tuticorin district collector who heads it along with the Tuticorin district superintendent of police, sub collector, district environmental engineer of pollution control board, deputy chief chemist of Tuticorin thermal power station and two environmental experts to be nominated as per the Supreme Court orders.

Vedanta CEO Pankaj Kumar had earlier written to Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami stating that the company's two oxygen plants together have the capacity to produce 1000 tons of oxygen daily.

The company had also written to the Supreme Court which had allowed oxygen from its plant in Tuticorin which had been shut down by an order of the Tamil Nadu government following mass agitations against the Sterlite plant.

The Sterlite plant was closed down in Tamil Nadu in March 2018 following months of agitation by the local people and activists. The company's plea to access the plant for maintenance was not entertained by the court.