Hundreds protest Vedanta refinery in Orissa
October 30th, 2010 - 10:08 pm ICT by IANSBhubaneswar, Oct 30 (IANS) Hundreds of tribals Saturday staged a demonstration in Orissa’s Kalahandi district seeking scrapping of Vedanta Resources’s alumina refinery in the region, a protest leader said.
“The tribal men and women, armed with their traditional weapons, marched near Lanjigarh town shouting slogans against the company,” Lingaraj Azad, a leader of Niyamgiri Surakhya Samittee (forum to protect Niyamgiri hills), told IANS.
“The central government has already denied mining permission. Therefore, there is no reason why the company will continue its refinery here,” he said.
Siddharth Nayak, president of Kalahandi Sachetana Nagarik Manch, said: “We don’t want Vedanta refinery in our area. It is polluting our environment. It must be scrapped.”
The officials of the company, however, said the project is creating employment opportunities and contributing to the economic growth of the region.
Earlier this month, the union environment and forests ministry refused to allow the Vedanta Aluminium Limited the expansion of one million tonne per annum refinery in Lanjigarh area to six million tonne and captive power plant to 300 megawatts from 75 megawatts.
Despite opposition from locals, however, it allowed the company to maintain status quo and continue operation of its one million tonne refinery.
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- Green group seeks cancellation of clearance to Vedanta refinery - Feb 19, 2010
- Court dismisses Vedanta plea for refinery expansion (Lead) - Jul 19, 2011
- Vedanta taps Gujarat for bauxite for Orissa refinery - Sep 02, 2010
- Environment ministry stops Vedanta's refinery expansion in Orissa - Oct 22, 2010
- Court rejects Vedanta plea for alumina refinery expansion - Jul 19, 2011
- Church of England's Vedanta shares sale welcomed - Feb 07, 2010
- India junks Vedanta's mining bid on environment concerns - Aug 24, 2010
- Vedanta hopes to get bauxite for Orissa plant soon - Jan 22, 2010
- Apex court questions environment ministry on Niyamgiri (Lead) - Aug 01, 2011
- Government panel says no to Vedanta's Orissa project - Aug 16, 2010
- Rahul Gandhi to address tribal rally in Orissa - Aug 26, 2010
- Vedanta replies to ministry's showcause notices - Sep 15, 2010
Tags: aluminium, bhubaneswar, captive power plant, central government, demonstration, economic growth, employment opportunities, forests, locals, megawatts, men and women, oct 30, one million, orissa, protest leader, refinery, slogans, traditional weapons, tribals, vedanta resources