Indicating that it would not grant clearance for the mining of the virgin Niyamgiri hills for the Rs 4,000-crore Vedanta Alumina in Orissa, the Supreme Court on Thursday  asked the Centre to conduct a study in four weeks on the environment, ecology and lives of tribals in the Kalahandi-Koraput region if there were large-scale mining activities.

A special bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, Justices Arijit Pasayat and H S Kapadia said the Ministry of Forest and Environment (MFOE) should conduct a comprehensive study instead of a project-specific study on the environment, ecology, tribal people etc, because the government had already granted mining lease to many companies.

Adjourning the matter till October 5, the court also asked the London-based Vedanta Resources to submit in affidavit its plan to carry out afforestation, schemes of employment for the local tribal people, schemes for the development of the tribes such as establishment of schools and hospitals etc.

Four-week study
Solicitor General G E  Vahanvati said the government would submit the report after conducting the study in four weeks. “We would study the impact of the mining on the whole tribal population. The mining right had been given to Orissa Mining Corporation(OMC),” he said.

Senior Counsel U U Lalit appearing for Court-formed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) the government should allot an alternate site to Vedanta, instead of ruining the Niaymgiri hills, having an elephant corridor and some of the rare species of flora and fauna. The OMC would be knowing about the bauxite deposits in the region and could suggest the site to the court or to Vedanta, said  Lalit.

Bauxite reserves
Senior Counsel K K Venugopal appearing for Vedanta submitted that Niyamgiri has 73 million tones of high grade bauxite deposits and would be commercially viable for the project.

The alumina factory, which already started production for the past few months after procuring bauxite from outside, submitted that it would be planting 16 lakh trees to compensate the loss of environment in the area.
The company would set up schools, hospitals and other developmental projects apart from setting aside some jobs in the factory for the local tribals said Mr Venugopal.

The CEC had issued a report recommending the revocation of environmental clearances given to Vedanta Alumina’s one million tonne alumina refinery in the Niyamgiri Hills in Lanjigarh of Orissa.

The CEC found that Vedanta had falsified information to obtain environmental clearances, and destroyed more than 10 hectares of forest land and begun construction work onsite without obtaining necessary clearances under the Forest Conservation Act.

Referring to the Niyamgiri forests as “an ecologically sensitive area”, the CEC has recommended to the Apex Court to consider revoking the environmental clearance granted by the MoEF on September 22, 2004 for setting up of the Alumina Refinery Plant by the Vedanta and directing them to stop further work on the project.