Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
The indigenous communities are mostly forest dwellers living in remote regions such
as Odisha's mineral-rich central highland areas, which account for about a quarter of the
country's tribal population. Threats to these communities attract social leaders and tribal
welfare NGOs, as well as political activists such as Sahu at POSCO, who teach the tribals
to speak up for their rights. But while protest movements have become more effective, the
government has responded slowly and reluctantly, protecting old relationships and doing
little to compensate those who lose their land.
Tribals regard some of the areas involved as sacred - for example, the Niyamgiri Hills
where Vedanta Alumina was planning a $1.7 billion bauxite and aluminium project till Jair-
am Ramesh became environment minister. In August 2010, Ramesh refused to let Ved-
anta's joint venture partner, the state government's Orissa Mining Corporation, start min-
ing. He withdrew the first stage of forest clearance approvals that had been granted in 2008,
and also refused a second stage. He did this on the basis of reports by two committees he
had set up which highlighted damage both to the area's biodiversity and also to the Don-
griya Kondh tribal community that lived on the hills and claimed that their Niyam Raja
Vedanta's Lanjigarh refinery from buying bauxite from 11 mines in the state of Jharkhand
where, Ramesh said, there were no mines with bauxite approvals. He accused the refinery
itself of commandeering forest land and carrying out a six-fold expansion without per-
December 2012 because of a shortage of bauxite.
In April 2013, the Supreme Court put the future of the project in the lap of the gods
when, referring to the tribal forest dwellers, it said, 'If the bauxite mining project in any
way affects their right to worship their deity, known as Niyam Raja, in the hilltop of the
Niyamgiri range of hills, that right has to be protected.' It said that the local gram sabha
(village council) should decide whether the tribals had religious rights in the area and
whether 'the proposed mining area, Niyama Danger, 10 km away from the peak, would in
any way affect the abode of Niyam Raja'.
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This was significant because it recognised the role of local opinion in determining the
future of projects and led to all the gram sabhas voting against mining, which cast further
doubt on the project's future.
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Notes
Government of India official SEZ website
http://sezindia.nic.in/about-osi.asp
