No decision 2 Indian doctors held on Niyamgiri mining: Govt

The New Indian Express, July 4, 2007

BHUBANESWAR: The contentious issue of bauxite mining on the Niyamgiri hills by Vedanta Alumina Limited’s (VAL) refinery at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district sparked off furore in the Assembly on Tuesday.

The State Government has become a party to the destruction of environment and ecology by planning to allow mining on the Niyamgiri hills, the Opposition charged. Natural springs emerging from the hills would dry up and wildlife would be extinct because of this.

Mining would have devastating effect and Kalahandi would turn into a desert within years.

The Government was accused of going ahead with the project despite adverse reports from the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII), the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) and the Ministry of Forest and Environment. But BJD and BJP members from Kalahandi defended the project. Minister for Steel and Mines Padmanabha Behera asserted that the State Government has not allowed Vedanta to mine bauxite on the Niyamgiri hills.

The Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) has applied to the State Government to use forest land for non-forest purposes. OMC’s application has been forwarded to the Ministry for clearance.

Responding to Opposition charges that mining would affect the flora and fauna of Niyamgiri, the Minister referred to the report submitted by the Ranchi-based Central Mine Planning and Design Institute Limited (CMPDL) which has cleared the project. WII has also revised its report after objections from the State Government, he said.

The Minister, however, maintained that since the issue is sub judice, the State Government is waiting for the judgment of the Supreme Court before going ahead. Earlier, Narasingh Mishra (Cong) said inspite of the intervention of the State Government, the WII maintained in its revised report that wildlife would be extinct from the hills because of mining.

Besides, the CEC has observed in its report that alternative mines in non-forest area should be identified for the project.