The Hon'ble Supreme Court's forest bench headed by Justice Aftab Alam, while hearing a petition filed by OMC (Orissa Mining Corporation) against the MoEF order withdrawing the Phase 2 clearance to Vedanta, has ordered that permission needs to be taken from the Gram Sabha. The Gram sabha is to look into the religious and cultural significance of Niyamgiri for the Dongria Kondha's and pass an order within 3 months. The MoEF then needs to look into it within the next 2 months.

The apex court had noted that the Dongria Kondha's worship the Niyamagiri hill.

The Odisha Government had first given the go ahead to Vedanta. A Wildlife Institute of India report had said “Mining could trigger irreversible changes in the ecological characteristics of the area. The cost-benefit value should not only take into account the material benefits of bauxite mining...(but also) the perpetuity of the resources and ecosystem services that would be provided by these forests in the future. Compromising long-term economic returns, therefore, cannot be an alternative for short-term gains.”

If this project is cleared, then it will be an environmental disaster. The Niyamagiri mountain, which is filled with bauxite is the source of rivers. Apart from the ecological destruction of this pristine area, if the Niyamagiri mining proposal is cleared than Dongria Kondha's, who are categoried as Primitive Tribal Groups (PTG), will be displaced. This is not a normal displacement as the Niyamgiri mountain is revered as their God. They call it Niyama Raja. Apart from their cultural beliefs, uprooting a self sufficient people will not only result in making them dependent on the outside world for survival, it will also bring them untold hardships as they are not used to this alien world. They only used to depend on the outside world for salt.

Moreover it will result in death of culture, religious values and beliefs and a once independent and self-sufficient lifestyle. They will soon be forgotten after some compensation is given. And worse is the loss of dignity that comes when they become just an unfortunate face (read beggars, coolies etc) in the crowd.

What is the use of such short term development which only benefits a particular corporate and comes at the huge cost of environmental degradation. India's civilisation has been enriched by the various cultures, values and beliefs of its people staying in various parts of this country. What use is the development which doesn't respect such diversity and comes as a messenger of death for cultures?

We don't want short-term myopic development while sacrificing people, environment and wildlife at its altar. Niyamagiri has to stop.