The ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC), with the help of the Rayagada district administration and the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB), managed to hold the public hearing for the Sijimali bauxite block on Monday despite the protest of tribals.
It was held in the presence of heavy deployment of police force. The Rayagada district administration claimed that the public hearing was done peacefully.
The public hearing was mandatory for issuing environmental clearance before handing over the bauxite block for mining purposes to a company. The Vedanta Limited emerged as the second bidder for the Sijimali bauxite block (311 million tonne reserve) in February which was crucial for its alumina refinery plant at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district. The Sijimali bauxite block spreads across the Rayagada and Kalahandi districts.
According to officials, the mining activities are going to affect 18 villages, eight from Rayagada and 10 from Kalahandi district. While the public hearing was held on the Rayagada side at Sunger in Kashipur block on Monday, the public hearing from the Kalahandi side will be held on October 18, an official source said. However, the social activists maintained that around 50 villages are going to be hit by the mining activities.
Additional district magistrate of Rayagada district, Rameshwara Pradhan, told The Telegraph: “The public hearing was held smoothly. People from the affected villages shared their opinions. It was video recorded. They have also submitted their views in writing. We will forward the outcomes of the public hearing to the state government and other concerned authorities soon.”
On being asked about the police atrocities on the tribals, Pradhan denied the allegations. “The public hearing was done in a peaceful manner for one-and-a-half hours. All the people were allowed to put forth their points and grievances.”
The public hearing was considered a morale booster for the Vedanta group which had suffered a setback in 2013 when the gram sabhas rejected the mining activities in the Niyamgiri hills in Kalahandi district. Since then it has been depending on the Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) to feed its Lanjigarh alumina refinery plant.
Social activist and winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize for 2017, Prafulla Samantara, told The Telegraph: “Before the public hearing, the police had unleashed a reign of terror. Several people were arrested and many people are still languishing behind bars. A conscious effort was made to divide the public opinion. Despite all the setbacks, people lodged their protest. The poor tribals are being victimised by the corporate lobby for resisting mining. The Odisha government should initiate steps to cancel the mining lease given to the Vedanta group.”
Eminent lawyer Biswapriya Kanungo said: “We must salute those tribals who mustered the courage to come to the public hearing and lodge their protest.”
Amarda airstrip
Union minister Bishweswar Tudu on Monday accused the Odisha government of “creating hurdles” for the revival of the Amarda airstrip in Mayurbhanj district, reports PTI.
Tudu, who is also an MP from Mayurbhanj, alleged that the BJD government in the state has been “misleading” the people of his constituency and is “not interested” in the development of the tribal-dominated district.
“Though the Centre is actively backing the revival of the airstrip, the state has been creating hurdles.
