Vedanta’s bauxite mining survey in Koraput district stopped due to local protest

Vedanta had proceeded to survey the land at Danga Deula hill in Koraput district along with officials from the mining department on Friday but was forced to stop their survey work due to opposition from the villagers.

Vedanta’s mining plans are not going well as they have already been refused permission to mine in the Niyamgiri hills rejected by the palli sabhas as well as the Supreme Court. Now their attempts to assess the Danga Deula region is also been restricted by the locals.

The State Government has issued this 144 hectare area under a prospecting license (PL) so that Vedanta can survey the laterite to look for bauxite contents.

This PL will be valid for the next two years during which the company is allowed to mine 50 tons of laterite for bauxite. If a low content of bauxite is found, a lease of 20 years would be issued, but for a higher content, a new mining lease application needs to me made.

However, the locals are strictly opposed to any kind of mining as they feel it would affect their livelihood as well as disturb the eco-system.

"The district collector has been apprised of the matter to take needful action so that survey work could resume," said district mining officer (Koraput) Sailaja Prasad Nanda.