Second Niyamgiri gram sabha today

Stake holders of the beleaguered mining project are anxious about the outcome of the meeting

Even as the second village in the Niyamgiri gram sabha series goes for a special gathering tomorrow to decide the fate of a bauxite mining plan, all stake holders of this beleaguered project are anxious about the outcome of the meeting.

In the first gram sabha held on the issue at Serakapada on Thursday, the villagers had given a thumps down to the project.

The second gram sabha will be held at Kesarpadi village in Rayagada district. The village, located 70 km from Rayagda town, houses 16 Dongria Kondh families with total headcount of 32. As per the official guidelines, the quorum requires minimum 50 per cent attendance of adults with one-third women participants.

The leaders of the Niyamagiri Surakhya Samiti (NSS), the tribal organisation spearheading the anti-mining agitation in Niyamagiri hill exuded confidence about the repeat of the outcome of the first gram sabha in the second one.

However,, the pro-mining lobbies led by Lanjigarh Vikash Parishad (LVP) raised doubts over fairness of the village council meetings citing presence of number of NGO representatives and NSS activists in the vicinity of gram sabha on the first occasion, which, they said, violated the spirit of Supreme Court order on Niyamgiri.

The Rayagada district administration has completed all preparatory work for the conduct of gram sabha tomorrow at Kesarapada. "We have made all arrangements and extended facilitates to the gram panchayat for smooth conduct of the gram sabha", said an officer.

The villagers have already filed their claims under the Forest Rights Act (FRA). "Almost all claims of the villagers including their religious rights will be taken into consideration" he added.

The district administration has publicized about the palli sabha among the people and made arrangements for video recording of the proceedings as per the apex court order.

"We have made adequate security arrangements in and around the village to maintain law and order during the proceedings", said superintendent of police, Rayagada, Rajesh Pandit. The security has been tightened as the area is located in a Naxal belt.Kesarapada is one of the 12 villages- 7 from Rayagada and 5 from Kalahandi districts, identified by the Odisha government to hold palli sabha in phases from July 18 to August 19, where the Dongaria Kondh and Kutia Kondh tribes will decided the fate of a mining project which is crucial for Vedanta's Rs 40,000 crore investment plan in alumina and aluminium sector in the state.