Tag Archives: vedanta

Dongria Kondh – victims of harassment, beatings and torture

Some of you will know that I have been following this subject closely since my first visit to Orissa (now Odisha) in 1999. The Vedanta Company wanted to take vast quantities of high grade bauxite from the Niyamgiri Hills which are sacred to the Dongria tribe. The case went to the Supreme Court and the decision left to the tribe who rejected Vedanta’s proposal. It appears that Vedanta continue in their quest using insidious methods including harassment.

Please read the link below and I hope you will sign this important petition. Thank you.

The Dongria Kondh are victims of violent and systematic attacks by state policeSurvival International

Survival International – uncontacted tribes

Survival International is a great cause. Please watch this 3 min clip about uncontacted tribes and support. Click on the highlight or double click on the image to open in a new window.


Remember the huge support they gave to the Dongria Kondh tribe in their battles against Vedanta’s proposals to remove 30 metres of Bauxite from the top of the sacred Niyamgiri hills in Odisha.

Supreme Court: Final decision for the Dongria Kondhs

It camDongria Kondh groupe as no surprise that the Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC), which holds the lease for land in the bauxite laden Niyamgiri Hills, would try a rerun to get last October’s decision overturned. This would enable the huge Vedanta Mining Co. to strip millions of tonnes of bauxite to supply its well-established enormous Lanjigarh refinery.  The OMC asked for a referendum in January and this time the Supreme Court has said ‘NO’. For now the homeland of the Dongria Kondh is safe.

Here is a news item from Survival International published yesterday.

On Monday 23rd May Vedanta published a rebuttal saying “to date neither OMC nor Vedanta has acquired any land in the Niyamgiri Hill ranges” and Vedanta “is not seeking to source bauxite from Niyamgiri bauxite deposits for its alumina refinery operations, and will not do so unless we have the consent of the local communities.”