ACTIONAID PRESS RELEASE
New Delhi: Threatened by proposed mining of the Orissa's Niyamgiri Mountain by a global mining giant, the Kondh community living on the ecologically sensitive mountain has sent a representative to U.K. to appeal to the shareholders to stop the mining plan.
"We cannot live without our God Mountain and the forest and we will continue our peaceful struggle. It is a life and death battle and Kondh people are united on this," said Sitaram before take a flight to London supported by ActionAid.
Vedanta Resources plc, a British-listed mining company, is about to start building an open-pit mine for bauxite (a raw form of aluminum) in the pristine Niyamgiri Hills in the state of Orissa in India. The bauxite will be transported by conveyor belt to a refinery at the foot of the hills.
The Niyamgiri hills are the ancestral home of thousands of tribal people whose distinctive way of life and culture makes them one of India's most vulnerable indigenous groups.
According to a report by Centrally Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court, the mine will lead to massive deforestation, threaten key water sources and destroy local ecosystems, home to endangered animals such as tigers, leopards and elephants.
In the past appeal to shareholders of the company an international scrutiny of Vedanta's activities in Lanjigarh and elsewhere led the Norway Pension Fund to withdraw its investment of $15.6m from the company.
The Ethics Committee had stated: "Allegations levelled at Vedanta regarding environmental damage and complicity in human rights violations, including abuse and forced eviction of tribal people, are well founded."
Another delegation of Kondh people will be hosting a candlelight vigil in Indian capital to draw attention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and seek support from city citizens to stop mining and destruction of their very way of life.
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