Road blockade against alumina refinery begins

The Hindu, June 16, 2007

BHUBANESWAR: Thousands of activists of Green Kalahandi on Saturday started a five-day road blockade agitation against the one-million-tonne-capacity alumina refinery project of Vedanta Alumina Limited. The Kalahandi police arrested 45 agitators.

The agitators, who were joined by workers of Opposition parties such as the Congress, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India and the Orissa Gana Parishad, squatted on roads leading to the alumina refinery site at Lanjigarh.

The activists blocked the roads at as many as 10 different places hampering vehicular movement to the refinery that is continuing trial production for several months now.

Although the company vehicles and bauxite-laden trucks were stopped by the agitators at various places, the administration officials said the agitation did not affect trial production.

They, however, admitted that transportation of bauxite ore from places such as Kesinga and Visakhapatnam to the refinery complex was affected.

Kalahandi District Superintendent of Police Sarat Chandra Chaupatnaik said the agitation was peaceful and preventive arrests had been made. More people were likely to be arrested on Sunday, he said.

The protesters, who comprised a large number of tribal men and women, were led by the former Union Minister and Congress leader, Bhakta Charan Das. He is the chairman of Green Kalahandi, a forum that is spearheading the agitation against the alumina project.

Mr. Das, who condemned the arrest of the activists, said that the agitation would continue in a peaceful manner till June 20.

The company sources refused to make any comments on the agitation.

Green Kalahandi has been opposing the company's plans to extract bauxite from the Niyamgiri hills close to the refinery.

The organisation is of the view that since Niyamgiri was the origin of 36 streams and two major rivers that fed water to people in eight blocks of Kalahandi and Rayagada districts, bauxite mining will destroy the ecosystem of the area and badly affect agriculture.