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Odisha villagers propose to pay Rs 35 crore to government if Hindalco’s plan to mine bauxite in Koraput is halted- Meera Mohanty
-The Economic Times

KORAPUT/NEW DELHI: Villagers protesting against Hindalco's plan to mine bauxite at Mali Parbat in the Koraput district in Odisha have come up with a unique proposal that offers to compensate the state for its loss in revenue from royalty.

Forty one villages from the district, two thirds of whose largely tribal population live below poverty line, have proposed to soon pass panchayat resolutions promising to pay Rs 35 crore, or what they estimate will be the royalty Hindalco is likely to pay the state over 15 years of the project's life. Hindalco estimates that its industrial activity in the backward region will earn the state three to four times as much. The Aditya Birla group company won rights to mine 8 milion tonnes of bauxite and got relevant clearances in 2006. Bauxite is used to make alumina, and eventually aluminium.

Its assigned contractor, Rashleela Enterprises Private Ltd, started work at the site two years later, but intermittent clashes, including a violent one in last November, have brought work to a standstill.

Mali Parvata Surakhya Samiti (MPSS), an organisation that claims to have the backing of 41 of 44 villages from the seven panchayats that are likely to be affected, says mining will only change for the worse the livelihood of the tribals in the region. The land in this region is fertile, the forests are rich, but that hasn't done much for the poor tribals of the Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput region that's earned special assistance plans.

According to Gupto Kharaa, treasurer of MPSS, "A couple of Palli sabha meetings have been held, and we are waiting for official nod to hold gram sabha meetings. We will pay royalty from contributions made by each family from their agricultural income."

It is an ambitious resolve as Kharaa and his brother live off subsistence farming and vegetables grown on 12 acres land. "Most tribals live of subsistence farming and forest produce. The surplus vegetables that they sell in nearby markets will, after bus fares etc, fetch them may be Rs 40-50 a day depending on the time of the year. The income varies greatly, but we could assume a family could earn Rs 1 lakh-1.5 lakh a year, says Sharanya Naik, who has spent the last 14 years working with an NGO in the area. District collector Sachin R Jadhav says holding gram panchyat meetings are a "democratic right." It doesn't require his permission and his office has received no such request. "It is a legitimately acquired mining lease. But the people opposing the project aren't criminals either.

We are doing the best to find an amicable solution," Jadhav said. The area also has a history of naxal disturbances. On January 24, 2012 local media published regional maoist leader Daya's open threat to local MP Jayaram Pangi for his continued support of mining at Mali Parbat.

While the Hindalco spokesperson declined to comment, senior company officials, who didn't want to be named, said the company has employed 250 people and they want work to resume. "Mining will contribute Rs 120 crore, and there are other taxes the state can earn if the ore is taken to another state," said the official.

The project lies only 15 km away from Nalco's alumina refinery in Damanjodi. For the year 2011-12, Nalco paid Rs 65 crore at an average per tonne of Rs 131-132, in a year when aluminium prices were buoyant. The royalty reflects volume, grade and aluminum's prices on the London Metal Exchange. Nayak believes the tribals could raise that kind of money if they wanted to. "It would need concerted marketing of their farm produce. Most of these villagers have not even filed for pattas (or claims on forests that generations of local have been dependent on) under rights provided to tribals. If they do that they can earn much more from forests produces like bamboo that the government is selling now directly."