Ongoing conflict between mining company and communities
Hundreds of villagers, from Rayagada and Kalahandi districts in Odisha’s southern hilly area, had questioned a group of men repeatedly entering their villages.
They came to elicit support for the mining project, hiring a few local young men to build support from within the community.
Villagers are concerned that there water resource will polluted due to bauxite mining.
Ongoing conflict between mining company and communities
Currently, there are 62 tribes in Odisha.
All of them are in the hilly region.
13 are from PVTG.
Hills comprise over 50% of the State, and those who live here are mostly from the ST and SC.
Sijimali and Kutrumali mines have been opened to Vedanta and Adani.
Baphlimali and Kodingamali mines, operated by the Aditya Birla Group and the Odisha Mining Corporation, respectively.
Ongoing conflict between mining company and communities
All forest-dwelling communities are part of their village gram sabhas that take major decisions collectively.
They function under the Forest Rights Act, 2006 and Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act, 1996.
Over 95% of the State’s bauxite reserves are concentrated in the East Coast Bauxite region.
Particularly in the southern and western parts, including Koraput, Rayagada, Kalahandi, and Balangir districts, according to Odisha’s Directorate of Geology.
Ongoing conflict between mining company and communities
Mundra Aluminium Limited, a subsidiary of the Adani Group, has secured bids for two bauxite mines in Rayagada and Koraput districts.
The Vedanta Group has proposed an excavation of 9 MTPA (million tonnes per annum) of ore over an area of 1,549.022 hectares on the Sijimali bauxite deposit site.
In 2013, the Dongria Kondhs had thwarted a mining proposal by the Vedanta, through historic resolutions passed through their gram sabhas.
Ongoing conflict between mining company and communities
The region has 44 bauxite deposits, both small and large, all within 100 km .
The Gandhamardan hill, with 207 million tonnes of reserves, has been declared a biodiversity heritage site, a no-go mining zone.
Deposits are typically found on plateaus ranging in elevation between 900 metres and 1,400 metres above sea level.
The hills are steep, with limited vegetation at the peaks and denser growth along the slopes.
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