Vedanta's controversial bauxite mine on the Dongria Kondh's tribal land has been stopped, after four years of protests by local peoples supported by Survival International and a wide range of affinity campaigns, including most recently by EI's Earth Action Network.
By Earth's Newsdesk, a project of EcoInternet (EI)
CONTACT: Dr. Glen Barry, glenbarry@ecologicalinternet.org
Controversial plans to develop a bauxite mine on sacred tribal land in India [search] have been cancelled by India's environment ministry. The Dongria Kondh's -; an indigenous tribe who have lived since time immemorial around the mountain Niyamgiri in the Indian state of Orissa -; demands have been met, and the area will remain wild, lush and sacred. Multi-national company Vedanta's existing aluminum refinery in the area had polluted local rivers, damaged crops and disrupted the lives of the local tribe; and will now not be able to expand six-fold. This is a Dongria Kondh victory first and foremost.
The project has been delayed by four years because of the Dongria Kondh's intense opposition locally -; including the brandishing of bows and arrows -; as well as from environmental and tribal rights group. Globally, a loosely coordinated campaign sought to persuade multi-national Vedanta's shareholders and financiers to distance themselves from the company. This is their magnificent victory as well -; for Survival International and Amnesty International, various celebrity activists such as Bianca Jagger and Michael Palin, and numerous other loosely affiliated affinity campaigns, including most recently from EcoInternet working with the Rainforest Information Centre.