Vedanta sees 'opportunity', even as activists make bonfire

Official of Vedanta says the judgement has settled some issues surrounding the mining project

The Supreme Court judgement on bauxite mining at Niyamgiri Hills in Odisha's Kalahandi district seems to have had a "please-all" effect on all parties.

While Vedanta Aluminium (VAL) welcomed it, seeing it as a "window of opportunity" to restart its bauxite-starved Lanjigarh alumina refinery on the foothills of the Niyamgiri, its adversaries, comprising social and environmental organisations, celebrated the recognisation of primacy of gram sabha.

An official of VAL said the judgement had settled some issues surrounding the mining project. First, it did not uphold the Saxena committee report and the grounds on which the ministry of environment and forest had scrapped the Stage-II clearance for the project, and, instead, focused on the implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), mainly pertaining to the protection of customary and religious rights of tribals in the area.

Referring to the court's observation "the alumina refinery and mining project are interdependent and inseparably linked," he said this had established the need of bauxite for survival of the refinery.

The official pointed out the court order was clear the mining site at Niyama Danger was 10 km from Hundaljali, considered the abode of Niyam-Raja, the deity of the local Kondhs. He added the court had directed the gram sabha should examine if mining would affect the religious rights of the locals. This was contrary to the view of some activists that the mining was to be done in the area where tribals worshipped, he said.

'Order lacks clarity'
State-run miner Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC), leaseholder for the mines, said the apex court order lacked clarity on the conduct of gram sabha proceedings.

"There is a bit of ambiguity in the order on the Nyamgiri bauxite mining lease. Though the court said the gram sabhas would take a call on starting the mining, it has not spelt out the villages where these sabhas would be conducted. On an earlier occasion, we had sent to the Centre the status of implementation of FRA in 12 villages on the Niyamgiri hill slopes. In any case, the responsibility will now be on the tribal affairs department to hold the sabhas. There will be a meeting at the state level to interpret the judgment and work out the course of action", said Chairman and Managing Director Saswat Mishra.