Vedanta grappling with statutory issues coupled with people’s resistance
Dr.Badal Tah,Odishabarta
Rayagada, September 1: Earlier Larsen & Turbo had Sijimali Block in Kashipur of Rayagada district with an area of 1549.09 ha for which Term of Reference(ToR) was issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change(MoEF & CC), GoI vide Proposal No. IA/OR/MIN/35455/2015 & File No. J-11015/100/2016-IA.II(M) dated 15.03.2016. Now this block is granted to M/s. Vedanta Ltd. having the same area through E-auction dated 09.02.2023 and accordingly Govt. of Odisha granted the Letter of Intent (LoI) for grant of mining lease vide letter no: 2103/SM-MC2-MC-0006-2023/2103/S&M, Bhubaneswar dated 01.03.2023 and the LoI is valid up to 28.02.2026. Land Cover of the Mine Lease Area(MLA) includes Private land 127.9 Ha, Government land 722.9 Ha, Forest land 699.7 Ha totalling 1549.022 Ha. Life of the mine will be 31 years.
Mining Plan is yet to be approved by Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM). No mining activities exist in the MLA and no mining activities have been carried out by Vedanta Ltd. as the block has been recently auctioned. Since, Sijimali Block is a virgin block and mining lease is yet to be granted, so no mining has been carried out within the mine lease area.
699.7 ha of forest land is involved within the MLA. Forest Clearance Certificate is not through though request Letter regarding Forest Clearance for Sijimali Mine has been submitted to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest(PCCF)-Nodal, Bhubaneswar, Odisha and Divisional Forest Officer Kalahandi & Rayagada on 28.04.2023. Vedanta requested District Collector & District Magistrate and Divisional Forest Officer of Rayagada & Kalahandi on 09.03.2023 for Compensatory Afforestation Land allotment. Again, it was requested to District Collector & District Magistrate and Divisional Forest Officer of Rayagada & Kalahandi on 14.04.2023. Subsequently, Collector Rayagada requested all Tehsildars of the district on 20.04.2023 to identify suitable land for Compensatory Afforestation purpose.
Water will be sourced from ground water & surface water and water will be withdrawn after taking the permission from the Competent Authority. This process is yet to be initiated. Preparation of list of flora & fauna has to be finalised. A Wildlife Conservation Plan needs to be prepared accordingly. The mine site falls in 18 revenue villages covering 500 nos of Project Affected Families(PAFs) & 100 nos of Project Displaced Families(PDFs). Rehabilitation & Resettlement(R &R) study/plan is not yet complete, which needs to be incorporated in Environment Impact Assessment(EIA) Report.
There is a court case between the L&T and the State Govt. M/s Larsen & Tourbo Limited (L&T) filed a Writ Petition (C) No. 4301 of 2021 on 02.02.2021 in Hon’ble Orissa High Court. After hearing all the parties, Hon’ble Orissa High Court dismissed the petition of M/s L&T on 02.03.2023. Then on 25.03.2023, M/s L&T filed a SLP with SLP No. 6163 of 2023 in the Hon’ble Supreme Court by challenging the judgement of the Hon’ble Orissa High Court dated 02.03.2023.
The villages such as Malipadar and Bundel are falling under Eco-Sensitive Zone of Karlapat Wildlife Sanctuary as per Draft Notification of Sanctuary dated 09.08.2019. The letter/certificate has not been obtained from the Forest Department in this regard.
In the context of the above case in the apex court and sanctuary issue, MoEF & CC, GoI has deferred the proposal of Vedanta Company. There are other issues like approval of mine plan by IBM, identification of suitable land by govt through district administration, PCCF’s nod for forest clearance, certificate from Karlapat Sanctuary Authority/Forest Deptt, R&R study/plan, certificate for water use, etc. The Company has also to work on several instances of people’s resistance still cropping up in Kashipur block of Rayagada and Lanjigarh in Kalahandi.
