OMC to seek legal opinion on moving SC over Niyamgiri

The Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) is mulling to seek legal opinion on the issue of moving the Supreme Court of India over the issue of rejection of Stage-II forest clearance by the Union ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) for bauxite mining by Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL) at Niyamgiir hills in Kalahandi district.

"As of now, we have not decided as to whether we should move the Supreme Court of India on the issue of rejection of Stage-II forest clearance by MoEF. We will seek legal opinion on the matter from the state law department in this connection,” a top OMC official told Business Standard.

Since the mining lease at Niyamgiri hills was in the name of OMC, the corporation had found itself in a tight spot after the MoEF rejected Stage-II forest clearance for bauxite mining based on the recommendations of the four-member Saxena committee.

The state government is also acting with caution on the issue of allotment of alternative mines to VAL after this setback.

VAL, on its part, is eagerly waiting for the government’s response on the matter. “The state government had committed to give us raw material linkage for our alumina refinery project at Lanjigarh. So it is up to the government whether they go to the Supreme Court to reverse the order of MoEF on Niyamgiri or allot us alternate mines in the state”, said a company official.

Of late, VAL has been eyeing the Gandhamardhan bauxite deposits to feed its Lanjigarh refinery. This is besides the applications made for half a dozen other bauxite reserves in the vicinity of the Niyamgiri hills.

The Gandhamardhan bauxite mines are spread over Bargarh and Bolangir districts over an area of 2365 hectares with a reserve of 207 million tonnes. OMC, which is a bonafide applicant for the Gandhamardhan mines, has been granted prospective license but the mining license is yet to be granted due to pending forest clearance.