RIGHTS groups on Friday (April 19) said India’s Supreme Court had set a “landmark” precedent in forcing British resources giant Vedanta to obtain the approval of tribal people before mining their land.
The court rejected a bid on Thursday (April 18) by Vendanta Resources, controlled by London-based self-made billionaire Anil Agarwal, to lift a ban on mining bauxite from hills deemed sacred by the Dongria Kondh tribe in eastern Orissa state.
Instead, the court ordered district village councils – known as gram sabhas – to say within three months whether they want to permit the bauxite mining to feed Vedanta’s nearby aluminium refinery.
“The court has confirmed the principle that tribal people need to have a decisive voice in industrial projects affecting their lives,” campaign group Survival International’s advocacy director Jonathan Mazower told reporters from London.
The 8,000-strong Dongria Kondh have opposed attempts to mine the land on which they rely for their crops and livelihood for nearly a decade. Their resistance has received wide international support with the tribe dubbed the “real-life Avatar” after the Hollywood science fiction blockbuster.
“If the bauxite mining project, in any way, affects their right to worship their deity, known as Niyam Raja, in the hilltop of the Niyamgiri range of hills, that right has to be protected,” the Supreme Court declared.
Amnesty International’s India chief executive, G. Ananthapadmanabhan, called the ruling “a landmark victory in recognising indigenous rights in India”.
“This ruling is hugely important for the Dongria Kondh,” he added.
The project is a joint venture between Sterlite Industries, a unit of Vedanta, and an Orissa government company. They say they want to create jobs in the impoverished region and bring tribal people into the economic mainstream.
Vedanta’s multi-billion-dollar investment has emerged as a test case, pitting industrial development interests against those of indigenous peoples and the environment. Vast tracts of mineral wealth in India lie in areas home to tribes.
To ensure locals face no pressure, a district judge will observe meetings and certify they were “uninfluenced” while the environment ministry will take a final decision “in light of the decisions of the gram sabhas”, the court said.
India’s environment ministry had turned down the mining application but Vedanta’s partner appealed to the Supreme Court.
Last December, Vedanta indefinitely shut its Orissa refinery in Lanjigarh, which it had hoped would become Asia’s biggest integrated aluminium producer, due to a lack of bauxite.
The ruling was the latest bad news for Vedanta whose plans to be a major global metals player rest on developing its Indian assets.
Earlier this month, authorities closed its large Tuticorin copper plant in Tamil Nadu over air pollution complaints and ratings agency Standard and Poor’s put Vedanta on negative credit watch as it seeks to refinance big debts.
