Bhubaneswar:
The Dongria Kondh are a primitive tribal community who live in the pristine hills around Niyamgiri in Western Orissa's Kalahandi district. On youTube, a series of spots campaigns have been running for their rights against a corporation named Vedanta. The mountain, the Dongria Kondhs worship, is the centre of rich deposits of bauxite that Vedanta wants to mine.
Now, a committee set up by the government has said that Vedanta's project, worth 5000 crores, should not be allowed in the area.
The committee, headed by NC Saxena, is critical of the Orissa government's decision to clear the project; its report states that government officials colluded with the firm in question, Vedanta, to allow blatant and widespread violations of forest and environmental laws, and of the basic rights of the tribals for whom this is home.
"This committee is of the firm view that allowing mining... in order to benefit a private company would shake the faith of the tribals in the law of the land," ruled the N C Saxena Committee, which was set up by the Environment Ministry in July this year.
The alleged violations by Vedanta in Niyamgiri Hills mean more embarrassment for Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik - there has been large-scale opposition from locals to a massive steel plant being set up nearly 500 kilometers away in coastal Orissa by Korean company POSCO.
Vedanta, the Saxena Committee states, has illegally occupied at least 26 hectres of village forest land within its refinery, set up at the base of the Niyamgiri mountain.
The construction begun by Vedanta, the Saxena Committee says, has been extensive - neither environmental clearances, nor the consent of the local community (required by law) in tribal and forest areas like this one has been taken.
The final call will be taken by Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh. "The big issue before me now is whether to give the stage two clearance or not. The environment ministry has to take a stand. It can't waffle everytime," he said.
But some believe that it's Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who may be influencing government policy on this project. In March 2008, he visited the area and promised his support to the Dongria Kondh.