30,000 farmers demand Hirakud dam water

Orissa farmers make it clear that water from the Hirakud dam is for irrigation, not industry

Mining firms set up shop in Orissa

The key element in this story is bauxite, the principal raw material for a much-in-demand metal—aluminium. Widely used in construction, as packaging material and for making automobile and aircraft bodies, global aluminium consumption increased from 32 million tonnes in 2005 to 35 million tonnes in 2006. It is expected to grow at similar levels in 2007, spurred largely by Chinese demand.

Industries to pay for pollution study

The Madras High Court, in a recent order, instructed industries in the SIPCOT industrial estate of Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu to pay Rs one lakh each to measure the pollution levels in the estate. At the court’s behest, the study is to be conducted by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI). The order came after NEERI told the court that the study would cost about Rs 25 lakh and take three months to complete. The estate consists of about 20 functioning pharmaceutical and chemical industries.    

Bad example

In court, Vedanta's lawyers repeatedly said they would emulate the "successful" land reforestation undertaken by NALCO, in its mining area on the Panchpat Mali hill range. The company has received several awards for its contributions in the field of afforestation and wasteland development. But environmentalists say its reclamation effort isn't worth emulation. A visit to the mining site in Damanjodi revealed why.

Dreams of empire

Sterlite Industries of India Limited and Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL) are subsidiaries of Vedanta Resources Plc, a publicly-traded British metals and mining company owned principally by London-based industrialist Anil Agarwal. Patna-born Agarwal started out as a scrap metal merchant in the 1970s in Mumbai. In 1983, he set up a small copper cable manufacturing unit. In 1998, his company, now called Sterlite, cashed in on the telecommunications boom in India, supplying copper cables to telecom companies, and raked in Rs 20 crore in profits.

Thin end of wedge

Vedanta isn't the only company eyeing Orissa's highquality bauxite. At least two more companies—Utkal Alumina India Ltd and multinational giant BHP Billiton— have mining and refinery projects in the pipeline. NALCO, one of the companies mining bauxite in the state, is mulling expansion of its mines.

Bending rules

How did Vedanta complete its refinery on schedule amid this fuss? With a little bit of help from the Orissa government and MoEF, it seems. Despite being aware since October 2004 of the company's violations of forest laws, it was only on March 23, 2005, after CEC questioned MoEF about the validity of an environmental clearance, that the ministry directed VAL to halt construction work till clearance was given for the 58.9 ha of forestland within the refinery compound.

Big impact

The project needs more than rich forests. It requires power generation as well as roads to transport minerals. The environmental impacts of the project are linked.

Is it a forest?

Niyamgiri hills comprise a 250-sq km massif of hill forests spread across Kalahandi, Rayagada and Koraput districts. A proposal is pending with the Kalahandi forest division's working plan (approved by MoEF in 1998) to notify the area as a wildlife sanctuary. The area was also listed as a proposed elephant reserve by the state in August 2004.

Toxic waste kept for safe disposal in Bharuch catches fire