New Delhi, Aug 4 Centre today warned the Vedantagroup that it can be prosecuted if it resorts to "illegalmining" of bauxiteat Nyomgiri in Orissa since the AnilAgarwal-controlled firm has been given only in-principleapproval.
Booker Prize winning writer Arundhati Roy and British human rights campaigner Bianca Jagger were among a group of high-profile figures who lent their support to a protest held here outside the offices of the mining company, Vedanta Resources, demanding that it withdraw its plans to construct a massive bauxite mine in Orissa.
The Niyamgiri Hills, which range over 250 kilometres across the districts of Rayagada, Kalahandi and Koraput in Orissa, are home to more than 8,000 Dongaria Kondhs and other tribals who are now wholeheartedly engaged in what they have been doing for centuries: defending their hills, forests and streams. This time, however, they face a more formidable enemy than ever
Plans to bulldoze an Indian mountain sacred to local people were controversial enough... before shareholder data revealed that a raft of UK household names, ranging from Jaguar cars to the Church of England, own shares in the company behind the mine, Vedanta Resources plc.
Hyderabad: Maoists in Visakhapatnam and the Andhra Pradesh Government are headed for a violent confrontation over mining of bauxite in the forests of Jeralla and Galikonda tribal areas on the Eastern Ghats, barely a week after the state Government agreed to supply raw bauxite to Jindal and RAK Aluminum Limited from the area.
Armed with 'Stage I' clearance, mining major Vedanta has announced its plan to start bauxite mining project in Orissa's Niyamgiri Hills within a month and to invest Rs 25,000 crore more for its aluminium units in the state in next two years.
