Thursday, August 23, 2012

THE NIYAMGIRI MINING PROJECT CONTINUES TO TAKE A TOLL ON TIME

SLATED TO BE A MAJOR GAME CHANGER, THE NIYAMGIRI MINING PROJECT CONTINUES TO TAKE A TOLL ON TIME, MONEY AND PATIENCE FOR VEDANTA. WHERE DID THEY GO WRONG?

Perhaps the best antidote to such a situation would have been to have sought clearance to the entire project in one go. That would have also helped Vedanta better gauge the quagmire it later got stuck into. Furthermore, Vedanta has been painstakingly working on communicating to the world that all talks of environmental and tribal devastation are a myth. They argue that the mining takes up only 4-5 sq km of the total 250 sq km and the mining goes up to only 30 metres, whereas the hills are 1050 to 1306 metres above sea level. The company also refutes charges of destroying cultivable area, depleting ground water and polluting the environment.

At the core are the communities that everybody is talking about and claiming to defend. As we had written about extensively in our exclusive on Vedanta’s mining project in an earlier issue of B&E, the company is doing a lot of work for the local communities there as per the SC mandate, which includes education initiatives for children, provision of nutritional food, hospitals and mobile health camps. More important are the livelihood initiatives being initiated for the local communities.

Significantly, there is a division within the tribals for and against the project; the ratio of which depends on whose statistics you choose to believe. While Vedanta is a welcome development for some, those who are not touched by the R&R and the community initiatives will obviously be easily swayed by the NGOs and political elements; and that has in fact happened. As many as 23 Dongria Kondh activists have submitted an appeal to the National Environment Appellate Authority and the hearing is ongoing. Continuous engagement is a must so that rigid mindsets can be bent.

But before that, Vedanta needs the mining operations to commence so that it would be able to source bauxite at competitive rates and have the kind of profits that will sustain its interest. Dr. Mukesh Kumar, COO, Vedanta Aluminium Ltd., Lanjigarh, believes that better communication is the key to results. Patient and persistent engagement is the need of the hour. As it is, they have come too far now to be able to move back.


Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,