It's All Mine - villagers against mining operations in Kashipur, India - Brief Article

Ecologist, The, March, 2001

In December, during a meeting of villagers opposed to the development of a bauxite mine and aluminium plant in the Kashipur region of Orissa, armed police stormed in and opened fire. Three innocent people were killed.

This is what you get for opposing this vast project, at the forefront of which is the corporation Utkal Alumina, owned by Canada's Alcan and its subsidiary Indal. Norsk Hydro is the other partner. A decision to go ahead with the project is likely to be made in mid-2001. It is estimated that the Utkal project will require 1,750 hectares of land for mining and an additional stretch of land for conveyor and corridor maintenance. The ore will be mined from plateau tops in the Baphimali Hills and transported 20km to the refinery at Doraguda.

The environmental impact will be vast. Hills will be razed to the ground and the heavy rains will sweep the silt into a huge reservoir that provides water for the drought-prone region. Even the engineer in charge of the irrigation project has warned of the impact of mining on the reservoir. Millions of tons of solid effluents such as 'red mud' from bauxite processing will be stored in tailing ponds. What's more, the mine will be 'open cast', leaving a gaping pit.

As a result the Proja and Kondha tribal people will lose their livelihoods. Three villages will be completely destroyed, and over 100 will be irreparably damaged. And because most of the land is not officially registered, the peoples' ownership rights are rarely recorded. The government insists that the land transfer has been made to the company and that the people will have to move. Utkal Alumina insists that it has title to the tribal lands.

The people say otherwise. They have organised an anti-mining movement calling for the cancellation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) of the government with Utkal Alumina and for the withdrawal of the police force from Kashipur.