Tuesday, March 5, 2013

MINING HURDLES: VEDANTA

Amidst speculation of a possible alternative to Niyamgiri, Gandhamardhan hill may once again become the soft target for Vedanta. Ajit Nayak reports on the possibility of history repeating itself

The government too is keen to close the chapter by immediately making alternative arrangement for Vedanta. At the same time it does not want to give Congress a reason to accuse BJD of going out of their way to help Vedanta resources. Meanwhile, the Congress is desperate for an issue to stain the ‘clean-image’ of Naveen Patnaik and is prepared to make an issue in case of an alternative arrangement for Vedanta. “We know government is planning to hand over Gandhamardhan to Vedanta. But we will not allow the government to do so”, senior Congress leader and former Law Minister Narasingh Mishra said.

Talking of Gandhamardhan, one is reminded of the local tribal movement that took place 28 years ago to protect their environment. Bharat Aluminum Company (BALCO), then a public sector company (now a part of Vedanta), got the government’s approval to start mining at Gandhamardhan. But the movement popularly known as ‘BALCO Hatao’ forced the company to roll back. Even after 28 years, reminiscence of the movement is alive in the shape of ruined buildings and half constructed colony of the BALCO. The Gandhamardhan hill range, equally rich in biodiversity and bauxite , was the platform for one of India’s famous mass-struggles to conserve forests and livelihood. A five year long battle resulted in BALCO winding up its operation to mine 213 million tonnes of bauxite. It was the then Congress government of the state which allowed BALCO to mine Bauxite in Gandhamardhan in 1982. The chief minister JB Patnaik faced the opposition of the people when he came to lay the foundation stone of the company at Padmapur in 1983. The people’s opposition forced the government to cancel the lease given to BALCO. “It was possible because of the selfless struggle of the people. Even today applications of at least 25 companies for mining lease are pending with the government. The government should declare the area as ‘no-mining zone’ to end the chapter for ever”, says Yuba Parisad’s convener Pradeep Purohit. “The mountain range is a source of livelihood for more than 10 thousand people of the tribal community. Instead of going for mining, the area can be developed with eco-tourism and eco-based industries”, says former parliamentarian and leader of BALCO movement Bhawani Sankar Hota. He adds that people are ready to fight once again if government tries to allow mining of bauxite in the forest range. While the state government of Orissa is contemplating on allowing mining at Gandhamardhan, Chhattisgarh government is willing to spend `2 crores in facilitatating the hospitality of the devotees and tourists coming to the place (‘Papanasini dhara’ at Nrusinghnath hill). In such a situation people are willing to shed their blood to save the environment of Gandhamardhan like 28 years ago.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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