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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | After Posco, Vedanta: panel tells Govt don’t let them mine by Debabrata Mohanty and Amitabh Sinha

After Posco, Vedanta: panel tells Govt don’t let them mine by Debabrata Mohanty and Amitabh Sinha

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published Published on Aug 16, 2010   modified Modified on Aug 16, 2010


Citing violation of a host of environmental laws, a government-appointed expert panel has recommended that Vedanta Resources should not be allowed to go ahead with its proposed bauxite mining project in the Niyamgiri hills area of Kalahandi and Rayagada districts in Orissa.

A decision on this will be taken by the Ministry of Environment and Forests later this month.

The expert panel, headed by Naresh C Saxena, a retired IAS officer who is now a member of the National Advisory Council, submitted its report on the project to Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh this afternoon.

Incidentally, Saxena led a similar panel which, citing alleged violation of the Forest Rights Act, called for immediate halt of all work related to the POSCO iron and steel project in Jagatsinhpur district of Orissa earlier this month.

In the case of Vedanta, the panel alleged that the company “consistently violated” the Environmental Protection Act, Forest Conservation Act, Forest Rights Act and the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA) “in active collusion with the state (Orissa government) officials”. It said the project threatened the existence of two endangered tribal communities living in the area.

“This committee is of the firm view that allowing mining in the... area by depriving two primitive tribal groups of their rights over the proposed mining site in order to benefit a private company would shake the faith of the tribal people in the laws of the land which may have serious consequences for the security and well-being of the entire country,” the panel said in its report.

The bauxite mining project was initially integrated with an alumina refinery project in Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district for which it was to provide the raw material. Unlike the mining project, the construction of refinery did not involve diversion of forest land and was, therefore, given individual clearance.

The refinery is under operation since 2007, sourcing its bauxite from other states. The mining project involves the diversion of 661 hectares of forest land and has attracted opposition right from the start.

The panel has now found faults with the refinery project as well, alleging that it is in illegal possession of at least 26 hectares of village forest land and that it expanded its capacity from one million tonne of annual production to six million tonnes without without getting necessary environmental clearance.

In New Delhi, Jairam Ramesh told reporters: “I am surprised to know that the refinery has expanded its capacity six-fold. If this is indeed the case, as pointed out by the report, then it is a most blatant and serious violation of environment laws.”


The Indian Express, 17 August, 2010, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/After-Posco--Vedanta--panel-tells-Govt-don-t-let-them-mine/661168


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