Despite Vedanta’s roaring hoardings of ‘Mining Happiness’, forceful grabbing of adivasi land by the company in Lanjigarh has always been a burning issue. Adivasis had been knocking all possible doors for justice: from the local administration to various courts. Recently, responding to complaints by four adivasis of the Jagannathpur Mauja in Lanjigarh Tehsil, the National Human Rights Commission investigated the issue and identified 3.66 acres of land within the company’s premises that legally belong to adivasis. Following this, the administration has now imposed Section-144 on the land and has registered a case of land-grab against the company under Regulation Act-2. This is for the first time that Vedanta’s illegal land-grabbing activities has been ‘officially proved’.
See video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwicLF7s1tE.