Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh today said a three-member team was assessing the London Stock Exchange-listed Vedanta Resources’ aluminium refinery project in Orissa.
He said the company had violated conditions of the Forest Rights Act of 2006 which ensures people living in a project area are heard and that they agree to the project.
The other environmental law that has been violated is about beginning work in the non-forest areas without first getting clearance from the forest areas.
“I am not a votary for Vedanta. Nor am I against it,” said Ramesh, while answering a question on the status of the project. The minister said he was only looking at “whether they (Vedanta) have followed the laws of the land. They have not.” The same principle, he said, has been followed for Posco, the South Korean steel company.
An Amnesty International report recently said the refinery operated by a subsidiary of Britain-based Vedanta Resources in Orissa was causing air and water pollution.
