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Indian minister halts fresh Vedanta bid to mine Niyamgiri

Richard — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:58:03 +0000

India’s environment minister has ordered that the proposal by UK-listed Vedanta to expand its Orissa alumina refinery six fold, be held in abeyance.

The decision seems effectively to put the highly-controversial Nyamgiri mine project on indefinite hold.

However, while clearly describing the ruses employed by Vedanta to get both projects officially approved, a regional peoples’ organisation issues a stark warning: “..Vedanta might try all other tricks to accomplish its dirty agenda…[It] might find a back door [by coming] up with a joint venture project with L&T to mine Kutru Mali and Silji Mali near Kashipur to feed its Lanjigarh plant…”

See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=11646.

Indian tribe stands firm as Vedanta mine appeal adjourned

Richard — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 14:55:27 +0000

One of the world’s most controversial mines is back in the spotlight after hundreds protested against renewed efforts to mine India’s Niyamgiri Hills. Dongria Kondh and Niyamgiri supporters held their own ‘public hearing’ in Orissa state, where they restated their resolve not to allow mining on their sacred mountain. The meeting coincided with a Supreme Court appeal in Delhi, which sought to overturn a 2010 ruling preventing UK mining company Vedanta from building an open-pit bauxite mine in the Niyamgiri Hills. See http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/8253.

See also Indian tribe’s Avatar-like battle against mining firm reaches supreme court, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/08/indian-tribe-avatar-supreme-court?newsfeed=true

and Court to rule on mining plan, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/court-to-rule-on-mining-plan-7626978.html.

Clampdown on sacred ritual as Vedanta mine appeal approaches

michaela — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 22:00:36 +0000

Security forces cracked down on the Dongria Kondh tribe as they prepared for a religious festival last weekend at the top of India’s most contentious mountain. Hundreds are determined to attend the Niyamraja ritual in the sacred Niyamgiri Hills, which are at the centre of a controversial mining project involving UK company Vedanta Resources.

See http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/8125.

See also video at http://youtu.be/WoMW_d2vdWE.

Amnesty International refutes Vedanta’s claims

Richard — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:48:53 +0000

In July 2011, Amnesty International issued a report, “Generalisations, omissions, assumptions: The failings of Vedanta’s Environmental Impact Assessments for its bauxite mine and alumina refinery in India’s state of Orissa”.

The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited Vedanta to respond. Its response is available on the Business and Human Rights website.

Amnesty International then issued a follow-up statement.

See http://www.business-humanrights.org/media/documents/amnesty-rejoinder-vedanta-aug-2011.doc.

International Day of the World’s Indigenous People, 9 August 2011

Richard — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 14:45:06 +0000

Statement by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, for 9 August, the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People

… In India, social unrest and conflicts over land acquisition for development and mining projects have increased in recent years. Adivasis defending their ancestral lands and community forests are often subject to threats and harassment, despite the existence of constitutional protections, Supreme Court judgments and progressive national legislation requiring consent of tribal communities, and community rights over forest use. In a positive development in 2010 the Ministry of Environment and Forests in India stopped the Orissa government and Vedanta, a multinational mining company headquartered in the United Kingdom, from mining in the Niyamgiri hilltop in Kalahandi district, since such an operation would severely affect the ecology of the area and the situation of the Dongria Kondh Adivasi people living in the mountains.

Development must not trump indigenous rights in the Americas

Amnesty International has urged governments in the Americas to stop prioritizing development projects at the expense of Indigenous Peoples’ rights. The call came ahead of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People on 9 August.

See http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/news-item/development-must-not-trump-indigenous-rights-in-the-americas

New trade union report

To mark the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People, the ITUC is releasing a new report entitled “The Alliance Between the Indigenous Peoples and Trade Unions in Latin America”. The report points to the discrimination, feudal exploitation, isolation and forced labour suffered by indigenous peoples in Latin America.

See http://www.ituc-csi.org/new-ituc-report-on-indigenous.html

Vedanta AGM 27 July 2011

Richard — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 11:06:42 +0000

photo: Kerima Mohideen

Vedanta bosses clash with protesters over pollution and human rights

Anger erupted inside and outside Vedanta’s annual meeting on Wednesday as campaigners protested against the mining company’s environmental and human rights record. The London Mining Network says Vedanta’s record has not markedly improved, with 26 fatalities at its mines reported last year and a waste dump in Goa overflowing this month. “As a result, millions of tonnes of mud and silt flooded into the [Goan] village of Mulgao, swamping farmland, choking rivers and threatening people’s livelihoods,” said an LMN spokesman. Vedanta has offered to compensate farmers.

See http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/jul/27/vedanta-protests-annual-meeting-pollution-human-rights?INTCMP=SRCH.

Vedanta faces angry protesters at AGM

India-focused miner Vedanta faced two hours of angry questioning on Wednesday, as its board was forced to defend the company against accusations from investors and pressure groups that it has repeatedly breached health and environmental rules. Pressure groups including Survival International, Amnesty International and others have long opposed a projected bauxite mine in India’s Orissa state, planned for an area considered sacred by indigenous people, as well as proposals to increase capacity at Vedanta’s Lanjigarh alumina refinery to 6 million tonnes per year from 1 million.

See http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL6E7IR2E220110727.

Protesters demand action against Vedanta

Shareholders of Vedanta Resources, a FTSE 100 company that has been embroiled in a row over its activities in India, were on Tuesday booed by protesters gathered outside the venue of its Annual General Meeting in Westminster. They called for its expulsion from India and an investigation into its trade practices and human rights record.

See http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2300115.ece

Read notes of the AGM from an eye witness.

photo: Kerima Mohideen

India: Vedanta Orissa projects ban must be upheld

Richard — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 14:28:00 +0000

Amnesty International press release, 24 July 2011

Ongoing attempts by UK-based mining company Vedanta Resources to overturn an Indian government decision blocking a proposed bauxite mine and expansion of an alumina refinery in Orissa should not be allowed to succeed, new report by Amnesty International says.

The report, Generalisations, Omissions, Assumptions, reveals that the company has failed to adequately consider the human impact of its proposed projects with an investment of US$ 1,7 billion in Orissa.

See http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/india-vedanta-orissa-projects-ban-must-be-upheld-2011-07-24.

No environment clearance for Vedanta, Centre tells green tribunal

Richard — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 15:09:30 +0000

Vedanta’s environment clearance to mine the Niyamgiri hills has been withdrawn as the rejection of forest clearance had made the green nod ‘inoperable and infractuous’, the environment ministry told the National Green Tribunal on Thursday while indicating that the environmental clearance in itself was not bad technically.

See http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/No-environment-clearance-for-Vedanta-Centre-tells-green-tribunal/articleshow/9318453.cms.

India’s Ministry Says No Green Nod For Vedanta’s Bauxite Mine Project

Richard — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 10:50:42 +0000

Vedanta Resources PLC’s bauxite mining project in eastern India hasn’t received environmental clearance, the Indian government has said. Reacting to a Times of India report that an environment panel had reviewed and cleared the project in Orissa state’s remote Niyamgiri hills, India’s ministry of environment said that, whatever the panel’s recommendations might be, the project hasn’t been given approval to cut forests for mining.

See http://www.epcengineer.com/news/post/5479/indias-ministry-says-no-green-nod-for-vedantas-bauxite-mine-project.

Indian Supreme Court gives Vedanta a month on Niyamgiri

Richard — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 10:34:18 +0000

The Supreme Court has given a month’s time to the Centre, the Orissa government and UK-based Vedanta’s Indian arm Sterlite Industries on the challenge made by the state’s mining corporation to the cancellation of environmental clearance to Niyamgiri Bauxite Mining Project in the state.

See http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report_supreme-court-gives-govt-sterlite-a-month-on-niyamgiri_1534680

Indian Supreme Court agrees to hear Orissa’s plea against Centre on Vedanta

Richard — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 10:30:37 +0000

The Indian Supreme Court has agreed to hear an Orissa government plea challenging the Centre’s decision to cancel environmental clearance given to Vedanta bauxite mining project in Niyamgiri Hills.

A bench headed by Justice P Sathasivam decided to adjudicate the dispute between the state government and the Centre arising out of the Ministry of Environment and Forest decision to reject the environmental clearance to Vedanta’s USD 1.7 billion bauxite mining project proposed in Orissa.

See http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article1591670.ece.

Vedanta allegedly brands tribal opponents “terrorists”

Richard — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 17:10:39 +0000

An extremely serious allegation has been made against UK-listed Vedanta Resources plc. The company is accused of sponsoring a briefing to para-militaries, employed to “safeguard” its aluminium operations in Orissa, where they were told to regard local, indigenous, opponents to the company as being “terrorists”.

See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=10792.

Vedanta Aluminium to raise over 2.2 billion pounds for Orissa project

Richard — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 17:09:21 +0000

Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Aluminium is in the process of raising Rs 16000 crore (160 billion rupees, just over £2.2 billion) for its aluminium project in Orissa, sources with direct knowledge said. Another source said the Orissa government has assured Vedanta of a bauxite mine in the state by April. Vedanta Aluminium has tied up funds for alumina refinery at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district and aluminium smelter complex at Burkhamunda near Jharsuguda.

See http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-03-23/news/29178397_1_bauxite-reserve-vedanta-aluminium-alumina-refinery.

Orissa Mining Corporation seeks speedy hearing of Niyamgiri Hills case

Richard — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 10:16:53 +0000

Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC), the mining body of the Orissa government, was planning to appeal in the Supreme Court on Monday for speedy hearing of its case it filed against the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) last week.

Almost six months after the MoEF directed OMC and the Vedanta Group to stop mining bauxite from the Niyamgiri Hills in the Kalahandi district, Lanjigarh, OMC filed an Interlocutory Application (IA) in the Supreme Court challenging MoEF’s decision on March 10.

Now, the company is planning to put the case on ‘mention’, which means that if accepted, the case will be considered on a priority and emergency basis.

See http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report_orissa-mining-corporation-to-seek-for-speedy-hearing-of-niyamgiri-hills-case-today_1519556.

Niyamgiri tribals vow to oppose bauxite mining

Richard — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 18:17:01 +0000

With sacrificial blood stained rice in their hands tribals took ritualistic vow at the top of Niyamgiri hill in Kalahandi district in the Indian state of Orissa to lay down their lives to protect their ‘Niyam Raja’ from destruction by proposed mining for bauxite. Tribals of the area especially the Dongria, Kutia and Jharania Kondhs worship Niyamgiri hill as a deity and call it ‘Niyam Raja’.

It may be noted that proposed mining for bauxite by Vedanta Alumina Limited (VAL) at Niyamgiri hill VAL has been scrapped by the Environment and Forests ministry of Central government and the State government has approached the Supreme Court against this decision of Central government.

See http://www.hindu.com/2011/03/01/stories/2011030159650300.htm.