Solidarity would be hugely appreciated as India’s Supreme Court looks like it is going to rule in favour of mining corporation Vedanta to be able to mine the Niyamigiri Hills in Orissa, which will mean the death of thousands of people and will set a precedent for the mining of all of India’s forests.
25,000 farmers are to form a human chain around one of the worlds largest dams in protest against development by British mining corporation Vedanta Resources PLC. Central to the conflict are issues over water allocation to the aluminium industry and a bauxite mining project whose effects India’s Supreme Court have been warned by its own investigatory committee would lead to “cultural genocide.” [1]
Farmers in India’s poorest state, Orissa, have gradually been losing the right to water from the Hirakud dam since it began to irrigate and produce energy for the region in 1947. Whilst they claim that today only 25% of their fields receive any irrigation, allocation of water to heavy industry has increased by over 27 times within the past ten years. [2] The major benefactor of this is the aluminium industry, Hindalco and Vedanta, present in Orissa due to its rich bauxite deposits [aluminium ore] and the huge amount of water available from the Hirakud dam. [3]
Vedanta is currently on the crux of winning a legal battle granting it the right to mine three million tonnes of bauxite from the most biodiverse forest region in Orissa, the Niyamgiri hills. The mining threatens many rare species of animals and plants which inhabit the region, as well as the existence of an entire tribal population, the Dongaria Kondhs.
Today is the latest confrontation between different interest groups in a ‘water war’ which reflects growing global conflicts over water shortages in a drying planet. Police have fired on and killed demonstrators in previous mass protests in Orissa and it is likely that following the recent contentious pro-Vedanta decisions of India’s Supreme Court, conflicts may well become more heated.
Feel like ringing up Vedanta to tell them to screw themselves? Good!
investorrelations@vedantaresources.com
Sumanth Cidambi
Associate Director Investor Relations
Telephone: +91 22 6646 1444
Vedanta Resources plc
16 Berkeley Street
London W1J 8DZ
Robin Walker & Faeth Birch
Finsbury Communications
52-58 Tabernacle Street
London
EC2A 4NJ
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7251 3801