New Delhi, Aug 24 (IANS) Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh Tuesday formally rejected London-listed Vedanata’s bauxite mining project in Orissa, saying the company has violated environment norms.
‘The Saxena Committee report, recommendations from the FAC (Forest Advisory Committee) and legal opinion of the attorney general have been taken into consideration and on the basis of which the environment clearance has been withdrawn,’ Ramesh told reporters here.
The Sterlite, the Orissa Mining Corporation and the bauxite mining project on the Niyamgiri hills in Lanjigarh, Kalahandi district of Orissa, cannot be granted stage-II forest clearance, he said.
A show cause notice has been issued to Vedanta, asking the firm why the environment clearance should not be cancelled, he added.
‘Since forest clearance is being rejected, the environmental clearance is inoperable,’ he said.
The minister said that though in-principle approval was given for the project in 2008 by the Supreme Court, new issues and facts came up in the Saxena Committee report.
The four-member expert panel, headed by National Advisory Council member N.C. Saxena, last week recommended that Vedanta’s proposal to mine the Niyamgiri hills should not be given final clearance as claims under the Forest Rights Act were not settled.
The panel had said that allowing mining in the area would shake the faith of the tribal people.
Ramesh said there won’t be any witch-hunt against Orissa government officials, and stated that ‘they have acted to the best of their intent’.
The minister, however, clarified that no decision has been taken on the POSCO project and there is no deal with the Orissa government for clearing the project.
‘There was no deal to clear POSCO. There is no deal linking POSCO and Vedanta. I would look upon any bauxite mining proposal with a great degree of circumspection, particularly where large tribal areas are involved,’ Ramesh added.
‘I will give the bauxite mining project in Andhra Pradesh the same degree of scrutiny that I have given to the bauxite mining operation in Orissa,’ he said, clarifying that there was no discrimination against Orissa.
Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Monday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Ramesh over the Vedanta, POSCO and Polavaram dam projects. Patnaik had alleged that while clearance was given to Polavaram dam in Andhra Pradesh, Vedanta was being stalled.
But Ramesh clarified that the environment clearance given to the Polavaram dam was on the condition that no part of Chhattisgarh or Orissa would be submerged.
The minister added that he would expedite the report by the Gupta Committee that is investigating the POSCO project.
The South Korean mining giant POSCO is the largest foreign direct investment in the country to the tune to $12 billion (Rs.54,000 crore). The report is slated to be submitted by the first week of October, but Ramesh hinted that it could be done by September.
Saxena, who headed the committee on Vedanta, told reporters: ‘Bauxite is mined in other countries too but not like this.’
‘It has to be done in a sustainable manner and no flouting of environment laws should be allowed,’ he told reporters, adding that there was no pressure on them.
‘There was no pressure on us and we did not get any calls. This is an impartial opinion. We have not recommended action against the forest officials but only against Vedanta officials. The action, however, will be decided by the government,’ Saxena said.
The state’s ethnic tribals and NGOs were seeking that the project be scrapped, citing environmental and ecological concerns and felt that the culture of tribal groups such as the Dongria Kondhs and Kutia Kondhs would be destroyed.
Environmentalists welcomed the decision. ‘There should be an exemplary action so that others don’t follow such people. Usually, environment defeats are permanent and wins are temporary. This is the victory of common sense as these forests would have been badly affected by the mining,’ Bittu Sehgal, an environment activist said.
