By IANS
New Delhi : A few days after Norway directed its pension fund to sell all shares of London Stock Exchange-listed Vedanta Resources Plc and not to invest in it further, a delegation of Orissa tribals Monday met Norwegian embassy officials here to express their gratitude.
“A delegation of Dongaria Kondh tribals went and met two representatives of Norwegian finance ministry in the embassy and gifted them two photographs of Niyamgiri Mountain,” said Simon, a supporter of the tribals.
Vedanta Alumina Ltd, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Plc, has signed an agreement with the Orissa government to set up a bauxite refinery in tribal-majority Kalahandi region. It will mine bauxite ore from the Niyamgiri mountain region for this purpose.
Norway’s state pension fund has sold around $13 million worth of shares in Vedanta Resources after the fund’s ethical council found the mining and minerals giant has caused severe environmental damage and violated human rights.
“The tribals said thank you as a goodwill gesture to the Norwegian government and hailed their concern for environment and human rights,” Simon, who regularly travels to Orissa to make a documentary film on the tribals, told IANS.
A Supreme Court-appointed expert committee has said bauxite mining in the region will not only affect human habitation but will also destroy biodiversity.
The tribals have now scaled up their protests. They have brought their message to the capital.
Last week, the tribals had said that granting of mining rights to Vedanta would affect at least 35 waterfalls and two rivers in the region.
It is also bound to destabilise wildlife in the area that includes elephants and rare lizards, besides medicinal plants, they held.
“We need Niyamgiri and Niyamgiri needs us. We have been fighting for nearly four years against industrialisation. If they displace us, then it will lead to a bloodbath in western Orissa,” said Jitu Jakeseka, a visiting tribal.