In an extraordinary and wonderful turn of events, I have just heard that India’s Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has blocked Vedanta Resources’ controversial plan to mine bauxite on the sacred hills of the Dongria Kondh tribe.
Vedanta Resources, a UK-registered ftse -100 company wanted to mine The Niyamgiri Hills in Orissa which are sacred to Dongria Kondhs, a protected tribal group of ‘original’ Aboriginal peoples.
According to Survival International, Mr Ramesh said Vedanta has shown a ’shocking’ and ‘blatant disregard for the rights of the tribal groups’. The Minister has also questioned the legality of the massive refinery Vedanta has already built below the hills.
I wrote about this back in May 2009 (India – Vedanta’s shame) and also for Tehelka in late 2007 (Knocked Out by Bauxite).
Here are some images from the story.
One reply on “The women and the mountain”
Dear Stuart, lovely pictures as usual. I am keeping my fingers crossed on the Vedanta issue and hope the government has some sense and stops alienating and building angst amongst the voiceless. I have had the good fortune of visiting the Dongria Kondh tribe in Orissa too.