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SC notice to MoEF, Orissa & Sterlite on Niyamgiri mining
The Supreme Court on April 21, 2011 asked the
ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) to explain as to why UK’s Vedanta
Resources’ Indian arm Sterlite Industries should not be allowed to mine bauxite
in the eco-sensitive Niyamgiri hills to feed its alumina refinery in the state.
A Bench headed by Justice RV Raveendran issued notices to the ministry, state
government and Sterlite Industries on the Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) plea.
OMC had moved the court challenging the ministry’s decision to block the Anil
Agarwal-owned Vedanta Aluminium Ltd's (VAL) plan to mine bauxite in the
Niyamgiri hills of Kalahandi district in the state. The MoEF had on August 24,
last year rejected Stage-II forest clearance for the firm's mining project in
Lanjigarh on the ground that the British firm had showed “blatant disregard”
for local tribal groups in the eastern state who deem the land as sacred. Vedanta wants to dig open-cast
mines in the Niyamgiri hills to feed an
alumina refinery it has already built in the area, as part of an $800 million
project expected initially to produce 1 million tonne of alumina per year.
OMC, on behalf of the state
government, has filed an application against the ministry for over ruling the
the apex court's orders of November 23, 2007 and August 8, 2008 on the
allocation of Niyamgiri bauxite mine to Sterlite. It said that the ministry's
decision has effectively neutalised the Supreme Court's orders that granted
clearance to the special purpose vehicle for diversion of 660.749 hectare of
forest land to undertake bauxite mining on the Niyamgiri Hills.
The Supreme Court in 2007 and 2008
had declined permission to VAL to mine bauxite for its proposed aluminium
project, but had left a door open for Sterlite Industries to extract the
mineral in collaboration with state agencies.
The special forest bench had then asked
Sterilite to deposit Rs 55 crore as Net Present value, Rs 50.53 crore towards a
wildlife management plan, Rs 12.20 crore towards tribal development as well as
5% of its annual profits from mining throughout India and interest or Rs 10
crore whichever was higher for development of the region.
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