Vedanta mining plans held up by Supreme Court

British mining giant Vedanta Resources plans to mine section of protected forests in India have been delayed after the Supreme Court ordered a root and branch impact study.

The Supreme Court ordered a "comprehensive" government report on the impact of large-scale mining activities in mineral-rich Orissa, in eastern India, is what is being widely seen as a test-case for future mining developments.

Vedanta wants to mine a huge stretch of the Niyamgiri hills for bauxite to feed a US$900 million aluminium plant built nearby.

But the hills are home to thousands of indigenous people who depend on the richly forested environment to live.

The case "will set a precedent for all projects in mineral-rich forest areas," Justice Arijit Pasayat said adding that he wanted to see the report by October 5 when the court next sits.

In a damming report in 2005, a Supreme Court environmental panel, the Central Empowered Committee, accused Vedanta of palpably violating environmental guidelines.

The report said the mining giant had "deliberately and consciously concealed the involvement of the forest land in the project" urging that environmental clearance given to the refinery be revoked.

Vedanta’s lawyer, K.K. Venugopal, told the court that indigenous tribes in the poor region welcomed the project "with open arms," but ActionAid, which is supporting the indigenous tribes, said they would not be able to adapt.

ActionAid response

"If this mining permission is granted, the primitive group will completely vanish – they cannot go and live in some other place and cope with another way of life," said Bratindi Jena who leads ActionAid’s work with indigenous people in India.

"They live a completely different lifestyle, they go into the woods to collect their food, they're completely dependent on the mountain for their social, religious and cultural identity.

"Vedanta's plans proceeding would make a mockery of the special protection that ‘primitive tribal groups' are afforded under the Constitution," she added.

One of the themes of ActionAid's new five year campaign,