Involve Odisha villages in mining decision: BJP

Says it'll be mockery of apex court order if villagers' opinion is not taken into consideration

BJP vice president Jual Oram on Tuesday urged the government to hold gram sabhas (meetings) in all villages in Odisha's Niyamgiri hills to take a decision on the bauxite mining project in the region.

The former MP said he met Union Tribal Affairs Minister V Kishore Chandra Deo in New Delhi Monday and sought his intervention into the issue.

"The Odisha government has notified to hold grama sabhas only in 12 villages whereas more than 120 villages have Kondh (tribe) population in that specified area. I have requested the union minister to take steps for holding gram sabhas in all 120 villages," Oram told the news agency.

"It would be a mockery of the order of the apex court if the opinion of all the villagers is not taken into consideration," Oram said.

Oram said the governor of Odisha has special powers under the fifth schedule of the constitution to protect tribal interests in the scheduled districts of the state.

"If the government does not take care of the tribal interest, the situation may get out of hand as the area is infested with Leftist extremism, who have been often exploiting tribals," he said.

Vedanta has set up a one million tonne per annum alumina refinery at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district, about 600 km from here. However, it could never operate the plant at full capacity due to shortage of bauxite, the key raw material used to produce alumina.

Vedanta had entered into an arrangement with the state government for supply of bauxite through a state agency from nearby Niyamgiri hills, but the move was challenged by anti-displacement groups.

The Supreme Court April 18 asked the state to go to gram sabhas to understand the religious and cultural aspects of tribals in the region.

The apex court's forest bench, headed by Justice Aftab Alam, said the gram sabhas would look into the religious and cultural aspects of the (Dongaria Kondh) tribals in the region in three months' time and take a decision.

The state government decided to hold meetings in 12 villages between July 18 and Aug 19. Tribals have voted against mining in the region.

The state's Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes Development Minister Lalbihari Himirika said the government selected the villages as per the court order.