Odisha Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC) is in the process of preparing pre-feasibility report for five new hydro power projects with a combined capacity of 1543 MW.

These projects include Bhimkund & Baigundi project on Baitarani river in Keonjhar district (110 MW), Kanpur small hydroelectric project in Keonjhar district (3 MW), Indrabati pump storage project (600 MW), Balimela pump storage project (510 MW) and Upper Kolab pump storage project, according to the state energy minister Arun Kumar Sahoo.

About 15 kms from the idyllic hilly town of Semiliguda in South Odisha’s Koraput district, the stage is set for an encore of the Niyamgiri-type agitation, as the tribals gather at the foothills of Mali Parbat to protest against bauxite mining by Hindalco Industries Ltd in the area.

Sharing the concerns of the Dongria Kondh tribe at Niyamgiri, whose protests had put a halt to Vedanta’s bauxite mining plan two years ago, the tribals in Semiliguda are also worried about the protection of their environment and livelihood.

The bauxite mining operation in Mali Hill in south Odisha’s Koraput district by Hindalco Industries has been stopped due to the agitation by the local tribal people.

Taking up cudgels under the banner of Mali Parvata Surakhya Samiti (MPSS), the tribal people of the area have launched an agitation demanding cancellation of mining lease issued to the aluminium major. The agitators pointed out that tribals of around 40 villages under the Sorishapodar, Hundi, Dalaiguda and Pakhajhola panchayats in Similiguda block would be affected by the mining operation.

The deficit rainfall has resulted in delayed planting of several kharif crops, including paddy in Koraput district.

The Society of Geoscientists and Allied Technologists (SGAT) has vehemently opposed Union tribal welfare minister V Kishore Chandra Deo’s demand for stoppage of bauxite mining in Eastern Ghats.

“We strongly refute observations of the Union tribal welfare minister as these are not based on facts,” said B K Mohanty, advisor, SGAT, a non-profit making professional body dedicated to promotion of mineral development.

With the South-West monsoon weakening in the middle of its course, almost half the State is thirsting for rains.

BHUBANESWAR: The Maoist-infested Laxmipur block in Koraput district which hogged the headlines for the wrong reason was back in the news on Tuesday.

BHUBANESWAR: The State Government has decided to sink 50,000 deep borewells by January, 2014 under the Biju Krushak Bikash Yojana to increase irrigation potential.

Tribal displacement, without rehabilitation, has led to growth of Naxalism: Tribal ministry

A decade ago, Chandra Pradhani, a Paraja tribal of Nuaguda village in Kundra block of Odisha's Koraput district, would migrate to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh to earn a living as a brick kiln worker. He no longer does this. Today, he is feted by the nation. He was one of the tribal farmers honoured by prime minister Manmohan Singh at the 99th Science Congress held in Bhubaneswar in January. It is the hard labour and traditional agricultural techniques of tribal families that have helped put Koraput on the map of world agriculture.

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