Efforts of Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL), belonging to London-listed Vedanta Resources Plc, to mine bauxite ore in Niyamgiri hills in Odisha received a severe blow on Monday with the 12th palli (gram) sabha also voting against mining there. This is the first time an environmental referendum is conducted on a directive by the Supreme Court to find out whether mining in Niyamgiri will tantamount to an infringement of the religious, community and individual rights of local forest-dwellers. It is time now for Vedanta to gracefully respect public sentiment and pack off its establishment.
See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=12422.
See also: Pristine Tribe Saves Sacred Mountain From Mining, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/madhusree-mukerjee/pristine-tribe-saves-sacred_b_3809496.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#sb=5179210b=facebook