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Vedanta may get to mine in Niyamgiri

THE Prime Ministers Office (PMO) has backed a controversial project by Vedanta Resources to mine bauxite in Orissa,delivering a big victory for the London-listed company which has been fighting accusations for years that its project violates the rights of tribals and harms the environment. The PMO has asked the environment ministry to give its clearance for the project in Niyamgiri after a through scrutiny by the expert appraisal committee and due consideration of all aspects,communication reviewed by ET shows. The intervention by the PMO follows appeals by the Orissa government,which is strongly in favour of the project,as well as by Anil Agarwal,the chairman of Vedanta. The PMOs move could give heart to others,such as steelmakers Posco and ArcelorMittal,whose projects in resource-rich states like Orissa and Jharkhand have been stalled because of protests over land and mining. The stance of the ministry of tribal affairs appears to have tilted the balance in favour of Vedanta and the Orissa government.The ministry did not raise any objects about the project and has not communicated any reservations to the PMO,an official in the ministry said. It has informed the environment ministry of the claim by the Orissa government that Vedanta has complied with the requirements under the Forest Rights Act. Another senior government official observed there seems to be a perception that the environment ministry is possibly exceeding its brief.It should just be concerned with environment and forest issues.Other issues relating to rehabilitation & resettlement and tribal rights are not under its jurisdiction.It is for the concerned ministries to take a call. Vedanta Resources,whose subsidiary Vedanta Aluminium is implementing the Orissa project,said in a statement that it is the affected party and has been complying with all statutory guidelines.It did not comment on the clearance of the project by the PMO.Environment minister Jairam Ramesh did not respond to phone calls and text messages. The environment ministry was to take a decision based on a report by an expert appraisal panel called the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC).Two members of a threeperson study team sent by FAC to Orissa reported earlier this year that there were no forest or environment issues related to the bauxite mining project and,therefore,it should be given the go-ahead. However,Usha Ramanathan,a third member of the team,had flagged the poor implementation of the Forest Rights Act and the deleterious impact of the project on the local primitive tribal group,the Dongria Kondhs.It was based on this that the environment ministry had withheld clearance.

6/29/2010