A crucial public hearing seeking environmental clearance for bauxite mining by Vedanta Limited at Sijimali in Odisha’s Rayagada district on October 16 got over with the majority of villages voicing concerns over the possible adverse impact of mining on local ecology.
The public hearing was conducted at the Trinath Dev High School at Sunger near Kashipur of Rayagada amid tight security. The public hearing had become highly controversial as villagers had alleged police high-handedness and attempts to allure villagers for deposition in favour of the mining.
“The public hearing for environment clearance is complete. We have recorded statements of people and video-graphed the event. The transcript and video clips will be submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Forests for necessary action at their end,” said Swadha Dev Singh, District Collector of Rayagada, on the phone.
Fresh hurdle
The Vedanta group, whose bauxite extraction plan through public sector Odisha Mining Corporation from Niyamgiri Hill Range had come a cropper following rejection by people in 12 gram sabhas in 2013, faced a fresh hurdle this time. The verdicts of 12 gram sabhas were dubbed in 2013 as India’s first environmental referendum.
Vedanta, India’s largest aluminium producer, has proposed to extract 9 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) from the Sijimali bauxite block spread over 1549.022 ha area over Rayagada and Kalahandi district. Sijimali has 311 million tonnes of proven bauxite deposit. It had proposed an investment of ₹792 crore in the project.
The proposed Sijimali bauxite mine is considered a critical asset for Vedanta’s expansion plan in the aluminium sector. The company has been operating a two-MTPA capacity alumina refinery plant at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district without a captive bauxite mine since 2007. It has proposed to augment refinery capacity to 6 million tonnes. For all these years, the refinery plant at Lanjigarh has been fed by bauxite, mostly imported. Later, it managed to secure a long-term supply from the Odisha Mining Corporation’s Kodingamali bauxite mine in Koraput district.
Mining revenue
In its environment impact assessment (EIA) report, the company said the mine would contribute ₹2511.6 crore per annum to the State and Central government exchequers by way of mining revenue, besides generating direct employment for 600 persons.
Vedanta informed that there were 21 protected forests and nine waterbodies within a radius of 10 km from the bauxite mine site. “The presence of nine streams in Sijimali Hill mentioned in the Environment Impact Assessment report is grossly underestimated. People meet their water needs for paddy crop and other usage from innumerable streams originating from the hill. Mining will kill all the streams first and then the Nagabali river,” said Kartika Nayak, a resident of Bonteji village.
Prafulla Samantara, noted environmental activist, said, “the administration handled the public hearing in a suspicious manner. Hundreds of people were waiting outside the venue to speak their hearts out. Sensing overwhelming resistance against the project, the public hearing was winded up within two hours.”
The Rayagada District Collector said the public hearing got over without any violence while people came to venue and aired their suggestions and objections freely. “No further public hearing would be conducted for environmental clearance. However, if we are asked to conduct the public hearing afresh, we will organise it again,” said Ms. Singh. A second public hearing for environment clearance for Sijimali will be conducted in Kalahandi district on October 18.
