Eight of 12 Gram Sabha reject mining proposal on Niyamgiri

The eighth Gram Sabha held in a row in hill slope village of Odisha's Kalahandi district today rejected the proposal to allow bauxite mining for Vedanta Aluminium on Niyamgiri Hill.
All the four voters, who attended the Gram Sabha proceedings conducted under the supervision of district and sessions judge at Ijurupa village in Lanjigarh, expressed their views against the mining proposal in Niyamgiri.
With this, all the eight out of the 12 gram sabhas held so far have rejected the mining proposal on Niyamgiri.
The residents of the tiny village strongly opposed mining proposal, saying it would infringe upon their religious and cultural rights. Their views were similar to those voiced in all seven village level meetings held earlier in various villages of Rayagada and Kalahandi districts.

The villages where Gram Sabhas have been held so far are: Serkapalli, Kesarpadi, Todijhola (all in Rayagada district), Kanakudu, Batudi, Palbiri, Phuldumer and Ijurupa (all located in Kalahandi district).
The process of holding gram sabhas in Kalahandi district has been completed. The remaining four gram sabhas are slated to be conducted in different villages located in adjoining Rayagada district, sources said.

The four major villages where Gram Sabha is yet to be held are Khambesi, Jarapa, Lakhapada and Lamba.
Niyamgiri spreads across 240 sq km area Dongaria Kandhs and other tribal groups worship Niyam raja as their protector. Therefore, they have been opposing any move to allow mining activities in the area.

The village level meetings are being held as per the order of the Supreme Court which on April 18 asked Odisha government to conduct gram sabhas to ascertain the opinion of the tribals living in Niyamgiri area with regard to the mining proposal on the hills.