Report on Application No

CENTRAL EMPOWERED COMMITTEE

REPORT IN IA NO. 1324 REGARDING THE ALUMINA REFINERY PLANT BEING SET UP BY M/S VEDANTA ALUMINA LIMITED AT LANJIGARH IN KALAHANDI DISTRICT, ORISSA

This report is being filed by the CEC in IA No. 1234 regarding the one million tonne per annum capacity alumina refinery project together with the 75 MW coal based captive power plant being set up by M/s Vedanta Alumina Limited (M/s Vedanta) at an estimated cost of about Rs. 4000 crores at Lanjigarh, District Kalahandi, Orissa and the associated bauxite mining project at Niyamgiri Hills, Lanjigarh.

2. The alumina refinery project will require 3 million tones per annum bauxite which is proposed to be sourced from the nearby Niyamgiri hills. After completing the preliminary works, M/s Sterlite Industries (India) Limited transferred the project for implementation to its subsidiary, M/s Vedanta. The land required for the alumina refinery and the mines are 723.343 ha. and 721.323 ha., respectively. The environmental clearance for the project was accorded by the MoEF on 22^nd September, 2004 wherein it is stated that the project does not involve any diversion of forest land and that the source of bauxite for the alumina refinery will be the Niyamgiri bauxite mines near Lanjigarh. At the time of the grant of the environmental clearance, a proposal for the diversion of 58.943 ha. of the forest land for the alumina refinery was pending with the MoEF. The proposal for the use of 672.018 ha. forest land for mining is at present pending with the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The project involves the displacement of 102 families. Permission for the use of 30,000 cu. mtrs. of water per day from River Tel has been accorded by the State Government on 31.10.2003.

3. Shri Biswajit Mohanty of Wildlife Society of Orissa, Shri Prafulla Samantara and Academy of Mountain Environics have filed Application Nos. 564, 571 and 579, respectively before the CEC against the establishment of the project. The main issues raised in these applications are collectively summarized as under:

Validity of environmental clearance:

i) out of the land requirement of 723.343 ha. for the alumina refinery and 721.323 ha. for the bauxite mining, 58.943 ha. and 672.018 ha., respectively are forest land. The government revenue land and the private land also contain thick forest and therefore are eligible for classification as “forest” as per the Hon’ble Court’s orders dated 12.12.1996;

ii) since the project involved the use of the forest land for the alumina refinery itself, the environmental clearance could have been granted by the MoEF only after the use of the forest land was permitted under the F.C. Act. Similarly, the environmental clearance for the alumina refinery could not have been accorded without taking a decision on the mining component which is an integral part of the project;

iii) M/s Vedanta has deliberately and consciously concealed the involvement of the forest land in the project. In the acquisition notice dated 6.6.2002 issued by the District Collector, Kalahandi it is clearly mentioned that 118 acre of forest land is included in the project site. In the application made by M/s Vedanta for the environmental clearance and also during the examination of the proposal, this vital fact was concealed so that environmental clearance is not kept pending for want of the F.C. Act clearance;

iv) in violation of the F.C. Act guidelines, the project has been split into alumina refinery project and bauxite mining project even though the bauxite mining is an integral part of the refinery project. Though the MoEF was fully aware that the use of the forest land for the mining at Niyamgiri hills is absolutely necessary if the alumina refinery is to be established at Lanjigarh, the environmental clearance to the alumina refinery has been accorded by the MoEF by overlooking these facts;

v) at the time of the grant of the environmental clearance even the proposal under the F.C. Act for the use of the forest land for the Niyamgiri bauxite mines had not been filed with the MoEF;

vi) the construction work of the alumina refinery was started on the project site much before the environmental clearance which was accorded on 22^nd September, 2004. This will be evident from the annual reports and the other documents filed before the CEC. As per the statements given by the Company, 45 % of the work had been completed by 31^st March, 2005 i.e. within 4 ½ months and an amount of US $ 29 million had been spent;

Importance of Niyamgiri forests :

vii) Niyamgiri forests are historically recognized for its rich wildlife population. It was declared a game reserve by the ex-Maharaja of Kalahandi. It has also been proposed to notify it as a wildlife sanctuary in the Working Plan for Kalahandi Forest Division, and which has been approved by the MoEF on 16^th December, 1998. This area has been constituted as an Elephant Reserve by the State of Orissa vide Order N4643/WL(Cons)34/04 dated 20.8.2004. It contains elephant, sambhars, leopards, tigers, barking deers, various species of birds and other endangered species of wildlife. More than 75% of the hill is covered by thick forests with an average density of 0.6. Wild relatives of sugarcane plant are found here and which are valuable genetic sources for the future hybrids and therefore need preservation to maintain a pure gene bank; it has more than 300 species of plants, trees, etc. including about 50 species of medicinal plants. Six of the species are listed in the IUCN Red Data Book. These forests are yet to be surveyed properly for their floral and faunal wealth;

viii) the alumina plant and the mining project linked with it will have serious adverse effect on the flora and fauna due to mining, overburden dumping, construction of proposed road through the dense forests, liquid and gaseous effluents emissions, bright illumination, blasting with explosives, drilling and resultant vibration and dust, operation of heavy loading and unloading equipment, pollution etc.

Improper withdrawal and FC clearance proposal :

ix) M/s Vedanta had applied for the diversion of 58.943 ha. of the forest land for the alumina refinery project. Subsequently on 27^th March, 2005, which happened to be a Sunday, it made a request through the State Government to withdraw the proposal. The very next day i.e. on 28^th March, 2005, the proposal was accepted by the MoEF. There was no application of mind by the regulatory agency i.e. MoEF to find out the reasons for the withdrawal, whether the project could be implemented without the forest land or whether it will affect other issues related to the environmental clearance;

x) the forest area of 58.63 ha. extends over a number of patches distributed in the seven villages. These patches have now lost the character of forest. It is not clear how the project can be implemented without these areas when these are widely spread inside the project site itself. They are within the compound walls of the project and can only be left out of the project on paper but not on site;

xi) though the State Government officials were fully aware that forest land is involved in the project, the forest offence report (FOR ), issue of notices to the company etc. for breaking/encroachment of forest land was initiated by the Forest Department/Revenue Department as late as 18^th December, 2004 which was only after the matter was brought before the CEC and there was a public outcry over the violation of the Acts;

Niyamgiri Hills – critical water source

xii) many perennial streams originate from the Niyamgiri hill top. It is a permanent source of water to the entire area including Kalahandi and Rayagada districts;

xiii) 22 water harvesting structures are located in the foothills which provide year round water supply. Vamsdhara and Nagvalli are two major rivers of South Orissa which emanate from this hill. Lakhs of people of South Orissa and Andhra Pradesh depend for drinking water and irrigation on these rivers. The mining of bauxite is bound to destroy the water recharging capacity of the hill and will also cause the desertification of perennial streams;

xiv) there is an intimate relationship between the bauxite topped mountains in Orissa and the perennial flow of water. All flat topped malis with bauxite deposits have a large number of perennial springs and streams along its slopes and which form the major source of lean season flow to the rivers in the region. This is because the bauxite is oolitic and pisolitic with high level of porosity giving it a high water retention capacity. It occurs beneath the laterite-capped plateaus and is characterized by the existence of a plateau supported by relatively impervious laterite layer with poor water retention capacity. This leads to a phyto-geographic condition wherein the plateaus are vegetated by grasses and shrubs providing a picture of a relatively unforested upland. In the present case the mining of bauxite deposits on the top of the Niyamgiri will mean the water capacity will be destroyed and the entire system of the perennial springs will be adversely affected;

Change in source of water and its impact:

xv) in the EIA it was shown that the water for the plant would be sourced from the Vamsdhara river. Now the water is being sourced from Tel river. This river is an important source of water for irrigation and drinking for the lakhs of people of Bolangir district downstream. It is basically a dry river with very little water flow. The temporary flow in Tel river even during the lean season is because of the fact that the canal system in the command area of the Indrawati Multipurpose Irrigation Project is yet to be fully developed and implemented. After completion of the Indravati Multipurpose Irrigation Project there will be severe shortage of water. No EIA has been conducted to assess the likely impacts of water being used from the Tel river;

Forcible eviction and rehabilitation package :

xvi) the people have been displaced from their houses through physical eviction by the district administration. Many were beaten up by the employees of M/s Vedanta. The National R&R policy requires that land for land should be given after due process of consultation, particularly in the case of the tribals. Contrary to the above cash compensation was offered to them and which was not acceptable to many. The tribal people living on the plant site are mainly Kondhs who are illiterate and depend completely on their agricultural lands and forest for their subsistence. They have deep spiritual and cultural attachment to their ancestral lands and settlements. The displacement was opposed vehemently by them despite being offered large cash compensation by M/s Vedanta. In the face of resistance, the District Collector and the company officials collaborated to coerce and threaten them. An atmosphere of fear was created through the hired goons, the police and the administration. Many of the tribals were badly beaten up by the police and the goons. After being forcibly removed they were kept under watch and ward by the armed guards of M/s Vedanta and no outsider was allowed to meet them. They were effectively being kept as prisoners;

xvii) apart from the land acquired by the District administration from the large number of tribals and the harijans of Bandhagunda and Rengopali villages, land was also illegally taken over by M/s Vedanta for which neither acquisition notice was served nor compensation was paid;

xviii) about 64 households of Jaganathpur Village, most of whom are Kandha tribals have been cultivating for generations Khasra No. 186 – a revenue land. Encroachment cases have been filed against many of them. These tribal families were evicted by force from the land being cultivated by them for generations without any compensation or any shelter thereby taking away their main source of livelihood. This has taken place even though these cultivators have been officially shown to be in possession of this land and cultivating. The eviction has taken place without any process of verification and is in violation of the special protection provided to the scheduled tribes. Though they approached the District Collector against the forcible eviction, no action was taken by him;

Transfer of land – violation of Samta judgement and MoEF guidelines:

xix) transfer of land to the non-adivasis in this area in violation of the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Samta Vs. Andhra Pradesh case. A highly endangered primitive tribe – the Dongaria Kandha whose population is less than 6000 reside in the Niyamgiri hills. They are dependent on farming / agroforestry and have no other source of livelihood. Niyamgiri Hill is a sacred hill for the Dongaria Kandha tribe. They do not cultivate on the hill top out of respect and the hill is worshipped as Niyam Raja. The entire tribe with its unique custom and practice will become extinct if Niyamgiri hills are diverted for mining;

xx) in the Guidelines No. 2-1/2003-FC dated 20.10.2003 of the MoEF it has been specifically stated that the maintenance of good cover is essential for sustaining the livelihood of tribal population and that in tribal areas only infrastructure development projects (other than commercial) should be encouraged. The manufacture of alumina is a commercial project which will only benefit the promoter company and cannot be described as infrastructure development project. It will thus be seen that the MoEF in this case has not followed its own guidelines;

xxi) the provisions of the Orissa Scheduled Areas Transfer of Immovable Property (by Scheduled Tribe Regulation) 1956, the Scheduled Tribe And Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities Act), 1989 have been violated;

Disposal of toxic effluents and mining overburden :

xxii) Red Mud Pond and the Ash Pond are being established on the banks of river Vamsdhara with a part of the river actually covered by the red mud pond. A flashflood in the river can cause a breach in the pond and which could result in a massive spill in the river of noxious and poisonous red mud which is a mix of highly toxic alkaline chemicals and heavy metals including radioactive element all of which could have disastrous consequences;

xxiii) the dangerous heavy metals and the chemicals may leach the ground water and destroy all the plant life that comes into contact with it. This aspect has been glossed over in the EIA and ignored by the MoEF;

Other issues:

xxiv) the overburden from the mining will flow into the streams and pollute them and in the process also destroy the unique micro-niches along the streams as well as the habitat of many of the unique species and the drinking water source for the wild animals. The streams will dry up in the summer and no surface flowing water will be available for drinking/agricultural use. Considering the acute water scarcity in the Kalahandi district one of the few sources of perennial water should not be allowed to be destroyed;

xxv) the rehabilitation colony has been located too close to the reserve forest which may have serious adverse effect on the forest; and

xxvi) rapid EIA is only a mechanism to initiate the assessment and in the case of small projects it could cover substantive aspects of the implications. Large projects such as that being implemented by M/s Vedanta demands a comprehensive EIA. A detailed analysis is therefore essential to ensure that the eco-systems are not damaged beyond resilience. It is inappropriate to clear projects of such magnitude based on a study of only 60 days.

A copy of submission dated 5.7.2005 filed by one of the applicant is annexed hereto as ANNEXURE - R 20 to this report alongwith extract of guidelines issued by the MoEF (Annexure – R 7), copy of the Executive Summary of the EIA Report of the Alumina Refinery Project (ANNEXURE – R 3), relevant extract of the Working Plan for the Kalahandi Division (ANNEXURE - R 21), relevant extract of the publication titled “Adibasi - A Journal of Anthropological Research” (ANNEXURE - R 22) and photographs of the area (ANNEXURE- R 23).

SUBMISSIONS MADE BY THE M/S VEDANTA ALUMINA LTD.

4. As per the submissions made by M/s Vedanta, M/s Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd. had entered into an MOU with the Government of Orissa on 7.6.2003 specifically for setting up one million tonne per annum alumina refinery alongwith associated 75 MW Captive Power Plant and a 3 million tones per annum bauxite mining facilities at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district. The MOU envisaged procuring land for the project through the Industrial Development Corporation of Orissa and other State support for infrastructure and that the Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) would take steps for executing the agreements with M/s Sterlite and the State Government for the mining lease. Pursuant to the approval for the grant of mining lease to the OMC by the Department of Mines, Government of India on 13.9.2004, an agreement was entered into between M/s Sterlite and the OMC on 5.10.2004 for the purpose of mining of bauxite reserves at Lanjigarh. As per the agreement the ownership of the mining lease is to continue with the OMC and the mines are to be operated by a Joint Venture Company of the OMC and M/s Vedanta. The agreement is subject to the OMC obtaining the mining lease from the Government of Orissa and completion of all the formalities and approvals. The land acquisition for the alumina plant was carried out through the Industrial Development Corporation of Orissa (IDCO) – a Government of Orissa undertaking. As on date, 702 acres of non-forest revenue land has been acquired and handed over to it by the IDCO after completing the requisite legal procedure as applicable to the scheduled area.

5. The submissions made by M/s Vedanta in favour of the project are summarized as under:

About environment clearance:

i) the public hearings on the alumina refinery and mining projects were held on 7.2.2003 and 17.3.2003, which were not attended by the applicants at all. The objections have now been raised after the project has reached a critical stage of implementation;

ii) the MoEF by letter dated 24.3.2004 indicated that since the functioning of the alumina refinery would be dependent on the proposal for mining it has been decided to consider the two proposals for environmental clearance i.e. alumina refinery and mining together;

iii) M/s Sterlite by letter dated 25.3.2004 sought environmental clearance for the alumina refinery on the ground that it would take three years to build the alumina refinery whereas only one year will be needed to open the bauxite mines. Thereafter the MoEF granted the environmental clearance to the refinery on 22.9.2004 inter alia on the condition that the refinery would be operationlised only after the linked mining component is permitted;

iv) the allegation that construction was started by M/s Vedanta before the grant of environmental clearance by the MoEF is incorrect;

v) averment that M/s Vedanta did not disclose that reserve forest area exist within the 10 km. radius of the project site is not borne out by the records. Full and accurate disclosure has been made by it including the fact of the proximity of reserved forest area. In reply to a query dated 16.9.2004 by the MoEF it had disclosed by a letter of the same date that the alumina refinery is located at the foothills of the Niyamgiri Hills. The fact that Niyamgiri Hills are reserved forests has been abundantly disclosed in the EIA report;

vi) against Item No. 3 (a) of the application filed by it for environmental clearance it was stated that no forest land was required for the refinery and the captive power plant. At the time when the application for environmental clearance was made, there was no involvement of forest land for the refinery project and therefore against Item No. 3 (a) of the application it was correctly stated that no forest land was required (as Gramya Jungle Jogya land could not be perceived as forest land);

vii) it is not correct to say that at the time of the grant of environmental clearance on 22.9.2004, the MoEF was not aware that forest land is involved in the project because the proposal under the F.C. Act for the use of 58.943 ha. forest land for the project was pending with the MoEF since 16^th August, 2004;

viii) after the grant of the environmental clearance on 22.9.2004, the refinery work was started without involving any “Gramya Jungle Jogya” land. Similarly, the reserve forest meant for the mine access road and the conveyor belt was not used. The work was started pursuant to the clearance granted by the MoEF;

ix) the MoEF vide its letter dated 23.3.2005 instructed it not to take up any further construction at the project site without obtaining the forestry clearance for 58.943 ha. of forest land. On account of business expediency and to ensure that the project is not derailed it took a conscious decision to specifically inform the concerned authorities that it will implement the refinery project without involving 28.943 ha. of “Gramya Jungle Jogya” land. Further since the proposal for the diversion of 30 ha. was for “mine access road” and “conveyor corridor” it could also be included in the mining proposal. Meanwhile, it withdrew the entire 58.943 ha. of forest diversion proposal. On its request, the State of Orissa vide letter dated 27.3.2005 recommended for the withdrawal of the FC Act proposal which was accepted by the MoEF vide letter dated 28.3.2005. Pursuant to the permission granted by the MoEF for the withdrawal of the FC Act proposal, no forest land was involved in the refinery project, and therefore the MoEF withdrew its letter dated 23.3.2005 vide its letter dated 28.3.2005. Hence, there is no pending issue in respect of the involvement of the forest land in the refinery project and the project is proceeding in full compliance with the environmental clearance granted by the MoEF read with letters dated 23.3.2005 and 28.3.2005;

x) as is usually practiced, preparation of a comprehensive EIA will be undertaken during the implementation of the project;

Use of forest land:

xi) the MoEF guidelines regarding “not starting work on non-forest land till FC Act clearance is obtained” itself states that starting of the work on non-forest area does not technically violate the FC Act. The rational of the guidelines is to ensure that the resources of the public sector undertakings are not wasted if the proposal is not approved under the FC Act;

xii) 28.93 ha. of “Gramya Jungle Jogya” land within the alumina refinery is not a forest land since it is still in the custody of the Revenue Department. It is described in the revenue records only as ‘suitable for village forest’ and not as forest land. The TATA-AIG study did not perceive the land as forest land;

xiii) when an ambiguity arose during the detailed land acquisition process, by way of abundant precaution, IDCO applied for the FC Act clearance for 28.93 ha. of the above said land along with 30 ha. reserve forest for road / conveyor belt. It has only 89 trees. The said proposal was received by the MoEF during August, 2004;

xiv) Niyamgiri Reserved Forest has not been notified as a Wildlife Sanctuary;

xv) pursuant to the queries raised by the CEC vide letter dated 2.3.2005 M/s Vedanta wrote to the MoEF and the Orissa Government on 24.3.2005 that the alumina refinery project will be carried out without involving 58.943 ha. forest land for which FC Act clearance proposal was sent by the Orissa Government to the MoEF on 16.8.2004. Accordingly, the MoEF has allowed withdrawal of the proposal;

xvi) M/s Vedanta will not reactivate at a later stage the proposed diversion of 30 ha. of forest land sought by it for the mine road and conveyor belt. The OMC is the mining lessee who would be assessing their requirements for the effectual operation of any mining lease;

xvii) the Forest Advisory Committee, which is the statutory body dealing with the forest diversion proposal, is yet to examine the proposal for the diversion of the forest land for the Niyamgiri mines;

xviii) the proposal by the Orissa Government also makes it clear that the conveyor belt would be necessary only with respect to the mining proposal. Therefore, the diversion proposal for 30 ha. has been withdrawn with respect to the alumina refinery project;

xix) it has committed about Rs. 111 crore towards various compensatory measure;

xx) it is only the bauxite mining project which involves forest diversion. Though this project is vital to the functioning of refinery, but that by itself does not make the two projects integrated such that the commencement of the construction in the alumina refinery project would amount to a violation of guidelines under the FC Act. In any case, the mines belong to the OMC and it is going to procure the bauxite from the OMC as per agreement with it;

Rehabilitation package:

xxi) the relief and rehabilitation package provided to approximately 300 project affected persons is the best in the State. There was not a single litigation in the acquisition process. Over 100 displaced families have been rehabilitated in the rehabilitation colonies built by M/s Vedanta Alumina Ltd. Land compensation between Rs. 1.0 lakhs per acre to Rs. 1.5 lakhs per acre has been given;

xxii) the rehabilitation colony is barricaded and the existence of revenue land between the rehabilitation colony and the Niyamgiri Reserved Forest would serve as a buffer zone and should prevent encroachment in the reserve forest;

xxiii) Dongaria Kandha tribes do not inhabit the area proposed for the diversion;

Requirement of bauxite for Niyamgiri forest :

xxiv) the project of alumina refinery in Lanjigarh has been planned considering the proximity to the Lanjigarh bauxite deposits. A situation of these deposits not being available to the refinery has never been envisaged;

xxv) the concept of the mining project being integral to the alumina refinery project is inaccurate. In case, the mineral from Lanjigarh mines are not available it would obtain bauxite from other sources;

xxvi) the raw material ‘bauxite’ is vital to its functioning and its availability would be an important consideration in deciding the location of the refinery. The proximity of mine would be an important factor for the successful functioning of the refinery and the production of aluminium at competitive prices. The mining project is necessary for the successful functioning of the refinery;

Drawl of water for the project:

xxvii) the water for the project would be drawn from the Tel river. It would be negligible namely 0.44% of the average flow of the water in the lean season and about 2% of the minimum flow during the lean period and therefore would not have environmental / ecological effect; and

Mining Plan:

xxviii) the Mining Plan and Wildlife Management Plan will be prepared by the various Expert Bodies and would cover all aspects of preservation of wildlife and eco-friendly mining practices.

Copies of affidavit dated 16.2.2005 filed by M/s Vedanta is annexed at (ANNEXURE- R 25) together with affidavit dated 28.3.2005 (ANNEXURE- R 26), affidavit dated 28.4.2005 (ANNEXURE- R 27) and affidavit dated 22.7.2005 (ANNEXURE- R 28) to this report.

STAND OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT

6. The submissions made by the State of Orissa are summarized as under:

i) the alumina refinery and the Lanjigarh mines are complementary to each other;

ii) when a major project is set up, some industries do resort to undertaking parallel activities at their risk and cost. The State Government has not accorded any express permission to undertake any activity on non-forest land. At the same time it is to be appreciated that under the present legal arrangement, there is no scope for the State Government to stop the work undertaken by the project authorities on the non-forest land at their own risk;

iii) in the instant case the MoEF has permitted the refinery proposal to be split from the mines proposal. The mining lease has been approved in favour of the Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) by the Department of Mines, Government of India on 3^rd September, 2004. The agreement between the OMC and M/s Vedanta Alumina Ltd. was signed on 5^th October, 2004. The proposal for seeking the clearance under the FC Act and the environmental clearance of the Niyamgiri mines is pending with the MoEF and the mining activity will commence only after obtaining the requisite clearance. The agreement signed with the M/s Vedanta is in no way violative of the law;

iv) after receipt of MoEF’s letter dated 22.9.2004 by which environmental clearance was accorded for the alumina refinery complex, the State Government vide letter dated 24.11.2004 has pointed out that the project involves use of forest land;

v) different bauxite deposits of the State have been explored. They have either been under operation or is being processed for exploitation as per the prevailing law of the land, hence not considered for the project;

vi) 58.943 ha. of forest land consisting of 28.94 ha. “suitable for village forest” and 30 ha. reserve forest, is an integral part of the alumina refinery project. This land is required for the development of alumina refinery complex over 26.12 ha. and construction of the service corridor, conveyor belt and approach road over 32.82 ha.;

vii) M/s Vedanta is found to have encroached 10.41 acre of the “Gramya Jungle Jogya” land by way of land breaking and leveling activities. For this DFO, Kalahandi South Forest Division has issued show-cause notices to M/s Vedanta on 5.112004, 18.12.2004 and 23.2.2005 for violation of the forest laws and Tehsildar, Lanjigarh has booked encroachment cases against it under O.P.L.E. Act, 1972. After registering forest offence case against M/s Vedanta, the prosecution case has been sent to the Court of S.D.J.M., Bhawaniptana for trial;

viii) the proposal for the diversion of 58.943 ha. of forest land for the plant was sent to the Central Government on 16.8.2004. Subsequently, on request from the M/s Vedanta and the IDCO, the State Government vide letter dated 27.3.2005 recommended for the withdrawal of the proposal which was accepted by the MoEF vide letter dated 28.3.2005. The proposal for the diversion of 660.749 ha. of forest land for Bauxite mine in favour of the Orissa Mining Corporation has been sent to the MoEF vide letter dated 26.2.2005. Earlier, approval under the MMRD Act for the grant of mining lease has been given by the Department of Mines, Government of India vide letter dated 13.9.2004 for a period of 30 years;

ix) in the Working Plan for the Kalahandi Forest Division for the period from 1997-98 to 2006-07 it is stated that the composition of the bio-diversity in Niyamgiri Reserved Forest and the adjoining area demands creation of protected area covering 9129 ha. A portion of the Niyamgiri Reserved Forest also falls under the proposed elephant reserve. However, this area has not been notified as a national park or a sanctuary;

x) the Niyamgiri Hill area is a habitat of wildlife. Elephants, Sambar, Spotted Deer, Leopard, Barking Deer etc. are noticed in the area. In order to preserve the flora and the fauna in the locality a scheme for the conservation and management of the wildlife has been prepared and approved by the Chief Wildlife Warden involving a financial outlay of Rs. 41.63 crore. This will be implemented as part of the project cost. A number of measures have been suggested by the Chief Wildlife Warden to minimize the adverse impact of noise pollution, use of heavy machineries, illumination at night in the project area, vehicular traffic etc. on wildlife. These include selection of eco-friendly equipment with properly designed silencers, effective equipment maintenance, no blowing of horns, use of controlled blasting technique and no heavy machinery movement during night hours etc.;

xi) from the Niyamgiri Hill forest area, only 383 ha. is proposed to be utilised for mining. To mitigate any adverse impact, suitable management plans are under consideration and the mining activity will start only after these plans are approved by the Government of India;

xii) the river Vamsdhara originates about 250 meters below the plateau top of Niyamgiri Reserved Forest. Since the bauxite mining will be confined only to a maximum of 35 meters at the plateau top along with the concurrent reclamation of excavated earth, this would not affect the water source of the river;

xiii) Dongaria Kandha tribals reside in the Niyamgiri Hills but not in the areas proposed for diversion by the M/s Vedanta. The mining activities will not affect their livelihood, custom, practices and their lifestyle;

xiv) no endangered medicinal species grow in the Niyamgiri Hills. Nagvalli river does not originate from the Niyamgiri Hills. Some of the minor tributary rivulets of Vamsdhara and Nagvalli rivers originate from Niyamgiri Hills;

xv) the construction of 22 pillars for the purpose of conveyor belt has been taken up by M/s Vedanta in the non-forest land;