The Rayagada district administration has received 129 objections from five out of seven villages in the district identified by the state government for holding of gram sabhas to decide the fate of a bauxite mining project at Niyamgiri. Of these, 40 objections have been filed by individuals.
The first gram sabha will be held on July 18 at Serkapadi village in Rayagada district.
The state government had decided to organise gram sabhas in 12 villages, including five in Kalahandi district. The month-long gram sabha proceedings would culminate on August 19. Excavation of bauxite from Niyamgiri hills was crucial to run Vedanta Aluminium Ltd's (VAL) alumina refinery plant at Lanjigarh which is shut since December 5, last year due to raw material crisis.
"We will send all the objections made by the villages to the village forest committees (VFC) for discussion. After validation in the palli sabhas under the supervision of the district and session's judge, the documents will be sent to the Supreme Court," said an officer in Rayagada administration.
"Almost all demands of the villagers including their religious rights will be taken into consideration," he said.
In its April 18 order on the Niyamgiri bauxite mining project (BMP), the Supreme Court (SC) held that if the BMP, in any way, affects the religious rights of Dongaria Kondha, Kutia Kondha and others, especially their right to worship their deity, known as Niyam Raja, in the Niyamgiri hill range, that right has to be preserved and protected.
Meanwhile, the Niyamagiri Surakhya Samiti (NSS), the tribal organisation spearheading the anti-mining agitation in Niyamagiri hills, is holding meetings in the identified villages to educate the indigenous tribes - Dongaria and Kutia Kondhas, to air their grievances in the proposed palli sabhas. The organisation has demanded for holding of gram sabhas in all 110 villages located on this hill range instead of limiting its scope to only 12 villages.
"We are not opposing the palli sabhas in these 12 villages, but we want to include other villages also," said adviser of NSS Bhala Chandra Sarangi.
