Indian environmental groups oppose calls to reopen Odisha bauxite reserve

The National Alliance of People’s Movements has warned against renewed efforts to restart bauxite mining in Odisha’s Niyamgiri hills, where a proposed project was halted after opposition from local tribal communities. The organisation was responding to a recent statement by Vedanta Group chairman Anil Agarwal that the bauxite reserve, spread across Kalahandi and Rayagada districts, should be reopened for mining and could create jobs for local tribal residents. Prafulla Samantara, a NAPM representative and 2017 Goldman Environmental Prize winner, said the hills belonged to the Dongria Kondh, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group that had historically protected and depended on the area’s natural resources.

He said neither the company nor state or central governments could claim ownership over Niyamgiri. Samantara said residents of all 112 villages in the affected region had opposed the project. He said the Supreme Court had directed that the question of mining be decided by the relevant gram sabhas, or village councils, and that councils in 12 Dongria Kondh villages had unanimously rejected the proposal.

NAPM State convener Narendra Mohanty alleged that the arrest of Lada Sikaka, president of the Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti, and the continued incarceration of adviser Lingaraj Azad were part of an effort to weaken opposition to corporate control of the hills. The material presents this as an allegation by Mohanty. Human rights activist Biswapriya Kanungo said the gram sabha decisions had constitutional and statutory significance under protections covering Scheduled Areas, including the Fifth Schedule, the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act and the Forest Rights Act.

He also said Vedanta’s 2016 review petition had been rejected. NAPM said the mountain ecosystem helped sustain rivers including the Bansadhara and Nagavali and that Niyamgiri was a sacred landscape for the Dongria Kondh.