Deforestation And Displacement Of Tribals Environmental Sciences Essay

Deforestation And push d birth shift Of Tribals environmental Sciences EssayToday we argon living in a globalized demesne where we measure e genuinelything in equipment casualty of profit and with a sole aim of information. We lead our lives even with expose spirit back for in one cuticle. This competition motive may take us to a developed, technologic wholly(a)y advanced era, however we argon losing our own lives by destroying the purlieu without thinking for the consequences. milieu in advance fifty years and the condition of straighta elan has a hell and heaven difference. In the name of phylogeny we atomic number 18 using all the inwrought resources that argon available to us, and displacing indigenous slew from their own trim, to construct big dams, industries and urbanizing that bea to get a meliorate employment opportunity and to raise our standard of living, merely we are forgetting that reputation has similarly limitation, it is in any case losing its automatic cleansing capacity. People who are coerce to flee from a disaster or conflict usually own sympathetic attention and inter blank space(a) aid from out placement. The same cannot be say for the millions of hatful worldwide who contribute been s abrogate extraneousd by cultivation, because everyday this unconscious process is inveterate in unhomogeneous parts of the world. The argument that has been put forth by so called developed and modern pack that geological fault is necessary for this traditionalistic society to change them into a modern and developed society. Seen in this light, large-scale, capital-intensive development go throughs accelerated the pace toward a brighter and better future. If hoi polloi were uprooted on the way, that was deemed a necessary evil or even an actual good, since it made them much(prenominal) susceptible to change.In recent decades, however, a new development effigy has been articulated, one that promotes mendicanc y reduction, environmental protection, social justice, and compassionate rights. In this paradigm, development is seen as both bringing benefits and imposing costs. Among its greatest costs has been the version of millions of vulnerable state. If muckle assimilate to push out from their place for both natural disaster then media come out with various reports but when throng are displaced everyday for any mega projects then nobody shows reason to them. Odisha is a recount which is the best example of how developmental projects exploiting innocent people and in the light of human rights these developmental projects are showing the way towards destruction.A recite gifted with rich mineral resources, yet so poor, Plenty of resources, plenty of p everywherety too, why Orissa is so poor with so much abundant natural resources? Orissas poverty unexplainable, these are among the about talked astir(predicate) statements on Orissa. A summary of the standard and typical statements and interpretations on the state and its situations would suggest that the State of Orissa is endowed with plenty of natural resources care forests, landlocked pee, mineral deposits, raw materials, very beautiful long coastal eruption full of natural beauty and amazing lake like chiliki, which the most congenital elements required for pursuing the goal of modern development. Its long coastline combined with potentially viable ports inspires for developing Special Economic Zones (SEZ) and turning Orissa into one of the most industrially developed states. Planners, developers, and Government, all are tensed that even after(prenominal) all these mega projects and natural beauty, Odisha is still poor and people are compelled to starve. Surveyors and researchers burden out that the State has come one-step down from an All India sheer(a) of 14th in 1960-61 to that of 13th in 1997-98 in terms of Industrialization. The poverty ratio of the state is still one of the elevatedest in the field. The state is mostly interpreted as a poor, traditional, backward and non- industrial State and it is suggested that in that respect is no way out to deal with the problems of poverty unless a process of rapid industrialisation is initiated.However the Government is using big capitalistic to make noticeable change in the State by put multi-dollar projects in various areas where natural resources are easily available. The entire mineral, forest, wet, and generative agrarian land are handed over to national and transnational corporations to ruthlessly loot the state and pauperize local anaesthetic peoples. Today Odisha is the figure of starvation deaths, farmers suicides, large-scale labour migration, destitution and poverty. Its own rulers are seeing forth the natural resources to the multinational sharks for their super profit. But Odisha excessively has occasion the beacon push aside of hope for the struggling workers and peasants of this country in their howling(a) struggle against the raptorial digging and industrialization of the state uprooting the toilers of the soil. Massive peoples oppositeness is going along the length and breadth of the state. Some prominent ones are Kalinga Nagar, Niyamgiri, anti-POSCO (Korean Steel association), and anti-Vedanta University peoples struggles.CHAPTER-2AN OVERVIEWSince Independence, divergent rulers in Odisha arrive s older the mineral resources cheap, and curb given over very low priority to agriculture, which has resulted in a phenomenal drain of mineral wealth and absolute impoverishment of broad masses of Oriya people. Even after more(prenominal) than sixty years of Independence the social indicators is leading the country in chronic poverty and starvation deaths, massive labour migration, sack, under-nutrition, senior high maternal and infant mortality rate, etc. Though Odisha is very rich in natural resources like land forest, and minerals, its indices in human development are very low, in fact the concluding in India.(Source- www.HYPERLINK http//www.mapsofindia.com/mapsHYPERLINK http//www.mapsofindia.com/ofindia.com) at that place are thirty soils in Odisha and the dominions are divided in to various digging zones by the State Pollution Board according to the mining domain and its impact on environment. These are,Zone-1 Keonjhar, Sundergarh weigh Manganese ore areaZone-2 Angul Talcher coalfield area.Zone-3 Sambalpur, Jharsuguda coalfield area.Zone-4, Jajpur,Dhenkanal Keonjhar Chromite area.Zone-5 Koraput Rayagada Kalahandi Bauxite area.Zone-6 Biramitrapur Limestone bitter spar beltZone-7 Baula-Nuasahi chromite belt of Keonjhar and adjacent Balasore district.Zone-8 Gandhamardhan adjacent areas of iron ore in KeonjharZone-9 Mayurbhanj district, Iron ore China clay area.Zone-10 Beach sand mining area of Ganjam district and adjacent Puri district.Zone-11 Tumudibandh (Gangam, Gajapati and adjacent areas)- Graphite areaZone-12 Bolangir-Baragarh are as- Bauxite and GraphiteZone-13 Kalahandi district approximately Titlagarh- Graphite, Quartzite and GemsstonesZone-14 Boudh, Sonepur Phulbani area- Small deposits of bauxite and graphite, butpotential area for coal, diamond, gold, gemstones and dimensional stonesZone-15 Cuttack adjacent Dhenkanal areas Khurda districtZone-16 Western Orissa, Malkalgiri Nawarangapur, Nuapara district- Good potential for limestone dolomite, China clay, iron ore, tin ores, bauxite, anyhow gold, diamond, graphite, gemstones and dimensional stonesWhile talking about mines and ores Odisha has 60% of bauxite reserve, 25% coal, 28% iron, 92% nickel, and 28% manganese reserve in India. It has rich forests, farming(a) land and a long coastline with the most beautiful beaches in the world like Chandipur. The most important thing is that Odisha is a State where all type of natural resources are available, so the State can be utilise and developed for tourists and it can earn huge amount of gold out of t ourism, but regretfully the available mines and ores are being used for industrial establishment in the name of development and the tourism side has been neglected by the Government since a long. Perhaps this is the reason that the State is poor and its resources are neither used by good purposes and in a proper way, but are only exploited by the multi-dollar companies. It is one of the poorest states in India in a wide variety of socio-economic indicators. It has the lo westernmost per capita income and very high below poverty level compared to all-India average. Odishas Human information Index compared with another(prenominal) states is 27. Inspite of various mega projects that necessitate been taken by the Government, the digit people below poverty line and unemployment is increasing, the annual rate of evolution in the year 1993 94 to 2003-04 was 1.75% compared to the all India grant of 6.19%. The National cornerstone Index was 107, while for Odisha it was 75. The developm ent policy pursued by ordered regimen in Odisha after Independence produced massive poverty and switch in Odisha. The National Advisory Council estimates 90 lakh people pitch been displaced from dissimilar development projects in Odisha.CHAPTER-3MINING OPERATION AND MAGNITUDE OF switchingdigging and displacement caused by mega projects like big dams and senseless industrialization is one of the most important factors in the present predicament of Odisha. Mining is a very large factor in large-scale deforestation in Odisha. From 1980 to 2005 the Government of Odisha has given permission for mining in 15,386 hectares of forestland. Odishas percentage is second in India regarding the income from mining sector in India. tally to the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) in the year 2004-2005 out of the core minerals extracted, 10% was from Odisha, the food foodstuff price of which was Rs. 5,820 crores at that time. Metals comprise the main component in the mineral extraction in Odish a.There hire been a lot of changes in the mining sector in Odisha. If one takes into account the data shows that the merchandise price of 1997-98, it has increased troika times. In 1997-98 the price of entire minerals extracted in Odishawas Rs. 2,237 crores. From 1997-98 to 2001-02 it grew by 6%, but from year 2002-03 it grew at a phenomenal rate by 27%. The reason being globalized modern market and the growing investment sector, which plays a vital role in this regard.According to income from minerals, Odishas main two mineral resources are coal and iron ore. In the year 2004-05 the income from coal was 46%, and 35% from iron or other main minerals one chromite 12%, and the other bauxite 2%. Due to lopsided resistance in bauxite mining areas like Kashipur, Niyamgiri and Gandhmardhan, exploitation of bauxite is not high in Odisha until Nalco bauxite mining and aluminum oxide complex was established in earlier 1980s. In Panchpatmalli which is in Koraput district, the local Adi vasis (tribals) are resisting bauxite mining by Hindalco Company and others. According to IBM, Odisha had also extracted minor minerals worth 45 crore US dollars in the year 2004-05. By the year 2004-05 mineral extraction was in make in 99,952 hectares. In the year 2005, 605 leases were granted in Odishafor mining, out of which nigh 45% was not functional. OdishaMining Corporation controls around 20% of mines. most of the districts, except Jajpur and Angul, are predominantly tribal they have been force outed from their traditional habitats by dint of predatory mining. Mining is one of the study reasons for the displacement of Adivasis but they are putting up plastered resistance to mining in Niyamgiri, Deomali, Khandadhar, Kashipur and Keonjhar as they donot want to be displaced from their soil where they are residing since time immemorial. Apart from that mining has caused widespread deforestation, soil erosion and degradation, and drying up of pee sources. The mining dole out is originally exploitative and messy in Odisha, where successive rulers of Odisha have given mines to national and international big capital at a throw away price. after(prenominal) the economic reforms in 1991, the process has accelerated, and various policies and sector specific policies have been proving as catalyst for these big companies to start confederacy and to inaugurate their projects. For bauxite and manganese minerals, the Government of Odishagets royalty from Rs. 20 to 25 a tonne, while the international price is about Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 5,000 per tonne. Khandadhar iron ore mines, which will displace about 30 villages, are being given as cloaked mines to POSCO who will make super profit only from mining, apart from its marque plant at Jagatsinghpur. POSCO is facing stiff resistance from both these places.DisplacementA conservative estimate puts the number of displaced people from Independence to the end of the millennium at about 1 crore. It is one-fourth of the present population of Odisha. Almost 80% of the people displaced are Adivasis and Dalits because where they live, the natural resources are also available in plenty of amount in those knolly areas. It is fearful but true that most of the displacement took place in the areas of Adivasi districts of west and south Odisha, including districts like Sundergarh, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj, which are predominantly Adivasi districts, where most of the large dams, mines and factories are located.The following Table shows the amount of land and village anomic repayable to mega projects.Type of projectNo of villagesdisplaced/ moved(p)No of familiesdisplaced/affected organic landacquired (inhectare)mines79314310,947.00industries1771070448,358.00Thermal power7324263155.31Irrigation/hydro power118164903595918.6total144681176623463.94(Source Kundan Kumar Dispossessed and displaced A brief paper on tribal issues in Orissa. epgorissa.orgApril 2007.)The large dam at Hirakud on Mahanadi River was th e first mega development project in post-independent Odisha, which submerged more than 1.53 lakhs of fertile agricultural land and displaced around 350 villages in the then districts of Sambalpur. Nobody knows their fate now. The undivided district of Koraput is the tragical story of tribal displacement and destitution in India. The Adivasis like kandhas, bandas and kolhas of Koraput, who were once the lords of the forests, now work as casual and manual labourers in different industrial centres and their wives work as maid servants. First they were displaced in the Kolab and Machkund dams, and Hindustan astronautics Limited at Sunabeda in the 1960s and again in Nalco alumina Refinery and mines at Damanjodi and Indravati Dam in the 1980s and 1990s. Rourkela Steel Plant displaced hundreds of Adivasi villages in Sundergarh district in the early decades after independence Rengali Dam displaced more than 250 villages in then undivided Sambalpur and Dhekanal districts. It was supposed t o be a utile dam, after spending thousands of crores and displacing lakhs of farmers it could irrigate only 10% of the proposed command area. After 1990s, thousands of acres of Adivasi land were acquired for setting up the mark hub at Kalinga Nagar. Vedanta aluminum Limited has displaced scores of villages in Lanjigarh Block to set up the alumina refinery polluting and poisoning the entire area which has an adverse impact on local agriculture. Thousands of acres of fertile land all over the state were acquired for thermic power stations and other projects. People of Baliapal fought against the national missile test range in the 1980s and successfully halt it, thus preventing the displacement of hundreds of prosperous villages. People of Gopalpur in Ganjam district under the banner of Gana Sangram Samity fought a heroic battle against TATAs in 1990 and successfully stalled it, though TATAs still have 3,500 acres in their possession. In the early 1990s the fishermen of Chilka foug ht against the privatization of Chilka Lake for industrial runt cultivation.After economic liberalization, the successive governments of Odishahave signed hundreds of memorandum of agreement (MoUs) with national and international corporate houses. 43 MoUs have been signed for sword plants alone, which will require 4,013 million tons of iron ore for a total installed capacity to produce 58.04 million tons of steel. Decades of destructive development projects have totally pauperized and dispossessed the inelegant poor in Odisha, overwhelmingly the Adivasis and Dalits. It has take them ofland, water and forests. Without any sources of gainful employment in their own villages, they migrate to other states to work as contract and casual labourers. The loss of agricultural land and drying up of water sources has endangered the food security of the rural poor.The Donghria Kondhs are resisting bauxite mining by Vedanta in Niyamgiri hills. The farmers of Dhinkia, Gobindpur, Patna and Nua gaon are fighting against the TATAS proposed steel plant by POSCO in Jagatsinghpur district under the banner of POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samity. In Kalinga Nagar, the Adivasis under the banner of Visthapan Virodhi Janmanch have put up a heroic resistance against the TATAs proposed steel plant. The adivasis under the banner of Vishthapan Viredhi Janmanch have put up a heroic against the TATAs proposed steel plant.The Adivasis of Kashipur are fighting against bauxite mining and alumina refinery for the prehistorical 15 years under the banner of Prakrutik Sampad Suraksha Samity. There is a struggle going on against bauxite mines in Deomali in Koraput district, and also against displacement caused by a big dam at lower Sukhtel in Bolangir district. The Adivasis in Narayan Patna Block in Koraput district are fighting against durance and alienation of their land. To keep the situation under control Odisha Government very much using illegal detention as a weapon and in whatsoever instan ces are there where police has pink-slipped bullets in extreme conditions and killed Adivasis on the spot. For example the police fired on the peaceful gang in Maikanch, in Kashipur Block of Rayagada district and killed 3 people who were protesting against Utkal alumina in Kashipur. It has detained scores of activists of Kashipur struggle for months on false criminal charges. Since the former(prenominal) six months inhuman combing operations are going on in Narayan Patna where the cobra, central paramilitary forces and state armed police go on demolishing Adivasi homes, sexually assaulting Adivasi women, destroying their household belongings and brutally beat out up the male members.What we are witnessing in Odisha and other places in India is a kind of revolutions generated by tribals demanding the protection of their rights and which ends in blood and dead-bodies. The Government of India has launched operation Green Hunt to handover the rich mines, forests, water resources an d agricultural land to national and international corporate houses. doing Green Hunt seeks to open up mineral resources for appropriation and plunder. As per the Ministry of Mines, the states that fall under the proposed area of Operation Green Hunt, Andhra Pradesh Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Bengal, account for 59% of the countrys mineral production. In the period 2006-2009 environmental clearance was given to 120 projects to either expand existing or to open new mines in Jharkhand and Odisha. These mineral rich areas are home to the poorest of the poor and mostly Adivasis and Dalits. The state has launched a brutal repression to suppress all the democratic movements which press handing over their land, water and forests to profit-hungry corporations. But the peasants, workers and Adivasis of Odisha have refused to warp under state pressure they have put up stiff resistance to corporate plunder and forcible eviction all over the state. Niyamgiri, Jagatsingh pur and Kalinga Nagar have become advanced outposts of anti-imperialist resistance.CHAPTER-4IMPACT OF MINING AND SPECIAL emphasis ON ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUESThe exploitation of mineral resources through surface and immunitymining has in the past caused a wide range of environmentalproblems such as health degradation, air, water and hinderance pollution,decline in agricultural production, deforestation, displacementand other socio-economic impacts. However, over the past numberof years, stakeholders in the industry have been striving toavoid and mitigate the potential baneful military forces of miningon fragile ecosystems and local communities. Governments are increasingly formulating and adopting policies to ensure thesustainable development of their countrys mining industryand mining companies are striving to be better environmentalcitizens. surroundingsal groups have become increasingly involvedin mining disputes. However, a lot has to be achieved to ensuremining in carried out in a sustainable way.There are various problems which arise payable to mining sectors. such(prenominal) as,Adverse impact on Land, Atmosphere, Water Regime, Ecology and Society.Increase in temperature in the area- payable to industrial activity and decrease in vegetation. drill and blasting contribute to explosive fumes.Changes in surface and ground water regime.Pollution of surface water bodies Run off from mines Leaching from toss awayNoise pollution out-of-pocket to blasting and subsequent vibration drives away wild animals.The present Government minomics is resulting in decreasing in life of various aquatic animals, such as crocodiles and the Olive Reedley tortoises. Mining operations cut off the corridors and results in elephants deaths and most of the time men-elephant conflicts. The mining companies essential be asked to regulate blasting time which is ideally 9a.m. to 11 a.m. but very sadly these are not being implemented by the State Government. The ground water is po lluted and all the rivers have lost their natural cleansing systems. Various operational methods like drilling, blasting, hauling, loading, transporting, crushing causes noise and air pollution by fugitive emissions of gases like methane, sulphur dioxide, normality oxides and carbon monoxide and it ultimately results in Green house gas effect and acid rain fall. The water is used for spraying haul roads therefore it leads to excess exploitation of ground water resources. Run-off water causes water pollution leading to harm to the aquatic animals and sea plants. To mitigate the problem, the Environmental action plan should be regulated which include Domestic outflowing Treatment Plant, Workshop effluent treatment plant, Mine Water sacque Sedimentation plant, Dust Suppression majors, tree plantation, and spreading for Bio reclamation and environmental monitoring. It also leads to climate change and the bio diversity areas of Odisha is being adversely affected by the mining operati ons. Never before have had wild animals and habitat faced the kind of threat they face today and just as dangerous is the threat to the survival of species from habitat destruction. Ecological destruction due to lopsided development projects and organized poaching has threatened the very earth of the species. The current paradigm of development has resulted not only in the depletion of natural resources of the state, but also threatens to wipe out irreplaceable ecosystems. According to reports, more than 100 open cast iron ore mines covering over 60,000 hectares of land area is in operation and maximum area is under illegal operation within Keonjhar forest division. Orissas Baitarani Elephant Reserves (ERs) in Keonjhar and Jharkhands Dalma wildlife sanctuary of Singhbhum ERs, both corridors have been virtually cut-off because of the mining activities. The Schedule-I Gharial crocodile is also under threat. The sensitive crocodiles are fast vanishing from the river systems of the cou ntry. The ground water experts and Odishas Pollution Control Board scientists have declared the alarming situation. According to the wildlife conservation strategy, 2002, lands falling within 10 kms of the boundaries of national parks and sanctuaries should be notified as ESAs under provisions of Environment Protection Act, 1986. Acting on the orders of the apex court, the ministry of Environment and Forests had written to all states in 2006 to identify such areas. Declaration of such areas surrounding saved areas is vital in order to safeguard the interests of wildlife by preventing disturbing activities like mining or industries being located close to their borders.CHPTER-5HUMAN RIGHTS trespass OF DISPLACED PEOPLEOut of 414 principal tribes found in the country, as some as 62 ethnic groups are found in the old hilly districts of Oridha. Statistical figures say, till 2000, about 29 lakh people have been directly affected by development projects. Their problems are uncountable and some of them are as follows,Common property turns into State property or you can say, nature turns into property.No compensation could be adequate for them, who have lost their culture, monuments, art and natural habitats and togetherness and kinship.Impediments towards rights to development.It also leads to baby bird labour and child prostitution in that area. People run out from their State and work as daily labour in other State and people exploit them very easily, because these people are very simple in nature and they do not know how to survive in this entangled outside world.It also leads to health problems. Right to healthy environment is or constitutional right.. but vety sadly I can say that due to poison gas emissions and the metals that mix with water it leads to dangerous diseases, sometimes causes grievous impact on children and women.It also raises temperature in air. Since last 10 years Odisha is facing this problem. One of the area called titlagarh in Bolangir di strict where the temperature rises to 50 breaker point centigrade in hot summer.Human rights watchdog Amnesty International alleged that the government and Vedanta had failed to protect Orissas indigenous communities from health hazards of mining, but the mining major hit back saying the claims were ground on an outdated document. It also alleged that the 8,000 potent community, mainly adivasis (tribals) in Orissas Lanjigarh suffered violations of human rights to water and health, due to pollution by Vedantas aluminium refinery.Vedanta Aluminium Ltds alumina refinery has led to water and air pollution, seriously undermining the quality of life and threatening the health of close communities, some of whom live only a few hundred yards from the refinerys frontier walls. The Amnesty report said that it also alleged that the Centre failed to keep back free, prior and informed consent of the Dongria Kondh people living in forests of Niyamgiri heaps before approving this project.T he Centre, on its part, said it is yet to receive the Amnestys report and as such, a new Act (the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation Act) is on the anvil to take care of issues, including tribal rights and welfare.Reacting to the report, Vedanta said The majority of the report is based on an outdated document which was subjected to intense scrutiny by the compulsory Court.The firm claimed that it offered for joint verification of allegations in eight villages, and dialogue on every aspect of the report but it was rejected.CHAPTER-6CASE ANALYSIS AND interior(a) AND SECTOR SPECIFIC POLICYKalinga Nagar situationThe situation is real watch of a beast. Kalinga nagar in Jajpur district, the activists from the Visthapan Virodhi Jana Manch clashed with the supporters of the upcoming Tata Steel Project. And the activists were attacked with traditional weapons and police have deployed platoons at the site to prevent any further incidents. The SP and DM acted there as pro-Tata p eople, they turned priest for Tats bhumi puja and officially resumes the construction work that had stopped after 2nd January,2006 massacre. The work has been done on the area where people were displaced and not accepted the rehabilitation and resettlement package. A crowd of women stood and protested but the media came up with the news very shamelessly that those tribal women welcomed and did bhumi puja for Tata. Since the past three months a reign of dread has been unleashed in Kalinga Nagar. The people there have been peacefully agitating against the construction of an approach road. Instead of negotiating with the people, the state government has reacted with brutal force. There has been a virtual blockade in Kalinga Nagar for the past few months. 29 platoons of armed police, 2 platoons of NSG, 70 police officers and 7 magistrates were deployed in Kalinga Nagar a week before the police brutally fired on peacefully agitating men, women and children. On 28th promenade 2010 the Di strict Collector of Jajpur told the people of Kalinga Nagar that the district administration is willing for a negotiated settlement of the issues raised by them. However, shockingly on 30thmorning the police forces entered the village of Baligotha and started to fire indiscriminately on unarmed men, women and children. More than 30 villagers were injured 7 of them are still battling for life. This explains how brutal force is used in Odisha to evict people from their habitat and handover mineral rich areas including fertile agricultural land to national and international big businesses. For the past few years hundreds of people have been arrested in Kalinga Nagar, Jagatsinghpur and Narayan Patna on false criminal charges. This anti-people white terror is perpetrated on the peasants, workers, Adivasis and Dalits of Odisha to handover thousands of acres of fertile land, water and forests to the profit-hungry corporations displacing millions from their homes and habitat.Vedanta and ill egal expansionNiyamgiri Hill is located in the Lanjigarh block of Kalahandi district. It is a scheduled V area, and is dwell by Dongaria Kondhs, a primitive tribal group. Niyamgiri hills belong to the Eastern Ghats, and unmoved reserves of metallurgical grade bauxite have been reported from this area. More than 75% ofthe Niyamgiri hills landmass is covered with dense forests and it is one of the biodiversity hotspots of Eastern Ghats. The northernmost hill of this hill country is proposed to be mined by Vedanta Alumina Ltd. who is also setting up an alumina refinery at the bottom of the hill by displacing local Kondh tribals.The proposed mining and refinery has led to local and tribal people resistance as well as opposition by environmentalists. A case against the Vedanta Alumina Ltd. was filedin the Supreme Court, where the petitioners have indicated that massive irregularities have taken place in the proposed project, especially on the environmental aspects along with human right s violations. The Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court strongly recommended that the Niyamgiri shouldnt be allowed to be mined on environmental and biodiversity grounds. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court overruled the recommendations of its own Central Empowered Committee and decided to allow Vedanta to carry out mining on Niyamgiri. At present, Vedanta is awaiting the final clearance for mining the Niyamgiri from Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. Meanwhile on ground the local tribals, including the Dongaria Kondhs have vowed to oppose the mining of Niyamgiri at all costs. The working process continues till March 2010, but Vedanta could not start mining on Niyamgiri due to strong oppositions by tribal peoples. Recently, a committee of the Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India has submitted enlarge reports documenting violation of environmental and forest laws by Vedanta which says that Vedanta has violated Forest Rights Act, with out pickings consideration of the tribal rights and environmental aspects in to account and started work on the p