Document - India: Open Letter to authorities to withdraw the clearance granted to Vedanta-Orissa Mining Corporation for bauxite mining project which could threaten Dongria Khond indigenous communities at Niyamgiri

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

ASA 20/004/2009

15 May 2009

India: Open Letter to authorities to withdraw the clearance granted to Vedanta-Orissa Mining Corporation for bauxite mining project which could threaten Dongria Khond indigenous communities at Niyamgiri

To

Chairperson

National Environmental Appellate Authority

J. L. Nehru Stadium, Gate No. 31,

Lodi Road, New Delhi 110003, India

Dear Sir/Madam,

On 28 April 2009, the Ministry of Environment and Forests of the Government of India granted an environmental clearance for the Government of Orissa’s Mining Corporation Limited to establish the Lanjigarh bauxite mining project in the Niyamgiri hills.¹The opencast mine will be operated by Vedanta Aluminium Limited, as per a joint venture agreement between this company and the Orissa Mining Corporation Limited.

Amnesty International requests the National Environmental Appellate Authority to withdraw the clearance until all necessary measures are taken by the Government to ensure that the mining project will not negatively impact the human rights of the Dongria Kondhs, an endangered indigenous community,and other communities who may be affected by the mining operations atop Niyamgiri hills. This has to include, at a minimum,

• a genuine consultation with the Dongria Kondhs as well as other communities who are dependent on the Niyamgiri hills as a source of water and for their livelihoods;

and

• an independent human rights and environmental impact assessment of the mining plan, potential risks and impacts.

As you are aware, the Niyamgiri hills are sacred to the Dongria Kondh adivasicommunity of about 8000 people who live on and at the base of the Niyamgiri hills and were described as ‘endangered’ by India’s Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC).²The Dongria Kondh self-identify as an indigenous people. Dongria Kondhcommunity members interviewed by Amnesty International in March 2009³described the Niyamgiri hills as central to their collective identity, religious beliefs, traditional way of life and culture. They also explained that Niyamgiri hills were essential for their survival as a distinct people and for their economic and physical survival. The Dongria Kondhpractice shifting cultivation on the Niyamgiri hill slopes, collect forest produce and carry out hunting in the area for their food and livelihoods. They also rely on the Niyamgiri hills as a source of water, wood, and traditional plants which they use as medicine. Amnesty International is concerned that there has been no attempt to ensure that the proposed bauxite mine does not threaten the Dongria Kondh’s ability to continue to engage in these traditional practices that are central to their way of life and culture.

Consistent with international law, prior to any approval being granted for the proposed mine, the free prior and informed consent of Dongria Kondh communitiesshould have been sought. The Government of Orissa should have ensured that Dongria Kondh communities were given full information that was accessible, transparent and objective so that Dongria Kondh communitieswere able to assess the potential impacts of the proposal on their way of life. They should have been allowed sufficient time to be able to freely make informed decisions about their views of the proposed mine, and to actively engage in decision making with the relevant authorities about the proposal. In contrast, the Dongria Kondh communitieshave not been given any information about the potential impacts of the proposed mine, or been consulted to determine their views about the proposal. None of the Dongria Kondh communitiesliving on or near the Niyamgiri hills were given notice of the public hearings which were held in February and March 2003, nor were attempts made in any other way to ensure their participation in these hearings, which were held at a considerable distance from where they live.⁴The public hearings were also completely inadequate as information was not provided to the communities on the potential risks and negative impacts of mining.

Although an Environmental Impact Assessment was commissioned by Vedanta’s predecessor company, Sterlite Industries, in 2002, such an assessment is rarely sufficient to ensure that the potential human rights impacts of an operation are assessed and that plans are developed to mitigate such impacts. In this case, the assessment commissioned by Sterlite Industries lists the number of villages and their demographic data an area within ten km radius of the refinery and mine sites but neither mentions the Dongria Khond and other communities by name nor discusses how close some of the communities live in close proximity to the mining site.⁵It does not study the ways in which the communities currently utilise water, wood and other natural resources in the hills or effectively analyse how these could be impacted by the mining project in the long run. On the other hand, it states that education, employment, community services, transportation and economy of the local population would be positively impacted during the mine preparation and the operational phases. Despite numerous protests and complaints from the Dongria Kondhand other communities, no attempt has been made by the government to set up a consultation process with the communities nor has an independent impact assessment been undertaken.

Amnesty International is aware that after a mandate from the Supreme Court of India, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of the Vedanta and Orissa Mining Corporation has developed proposals for the development of the area and for conservation and development of the Dongria Kondh and otheradivasi communities,but found that no details of the proposals have been disclosed to these communities nor their consultations sought.⁶

The Government of India is under an obligation under international human rights to ensure genuine consultation with Dongria Kondh communities.It must also ensure that members of the community are fully and accurately informed of the nature and consequences of the mining proposal and provided with an effective opportunity to participate individually or as collectives. It is also obligated to ensure that decisions are taken on thedevelopment and use of the traditional lands of Dongria Kondh communitieswithout their free, prior, informed consent.⁷

Dongria Khond communities, living in the vicinity of the proposed site for bauxite mining, have significant concerns over the potential effects of blasting, noise, dust, arrangements for transport of people and the mined bauxite. Dongria Kondhand other communities living on Niyamgiri also highlighted to Amnesty International their complete dependency on the streams which originate from the top of the Niyamgiri hill top for drinking water, personal use and agriculture. They expressed their concerns about the potential impact of the mining on these water bodies and on their ability to continue to live, work and survive in the areas that Dongria Khond communities have traditionally inhabited and other communities have also lived in for hundreds of years.

The CEC’s fact-finding report acknowledges that the protected Niyamgiri hills constitute the “origin of Vamsdhara river and other rivulets” and there is likelihood of “adverse effect of mining on bio-diversity and availability of water for the local people.”⁸ Environmental activists have pointed out that the bauxite deposits on top of the hills are crucial for ensuring a perennial slow water supply in the low rainfall seasons because of the porous nature and high water retention capacity of the bauxite and have warned of eventual destruction of the groundwater recharging process if mining is allowed. However, an interim expert report commissioned by the Orissa Mining Corporation has concluded that “the proposed mining activity (at a much higher level) would have a negligible impact on the lower aquifer system.”⁹Considering the seriousness of the potential impact of mining on water bodies and the concerns expressed by the communities, there is a necessity for a deeper study and a more transparent system of consultations with the communities on this issue.

Amnesty International is concerned about the potential impact of the mining on the human rights of Dongria Kondh and other communities. In particular, there are serious threats posed by the proposed mine to their human rights to water, food, health and sustainable livelihoods. Given the seriousness of these potential impacts, the Government of India is obligated under international human rights law to undertake a comprehensive, independent and holistic human rights and environmental impact assessment of the risks identified by the CEC. The Government must also ensure that the project does not result in a violation of human rights, including through a failure on the part of the Indian authorities to take all necessary measures to safeguard persons within their jurisdiction from infringements of human rights by third parties.

The Government is also obligated to ensure the participation of people in decision-making processes that may affect the exercise of their rights. Dongria Kondhand other communities living on the hills but also others who may be impacted must therefore be provided with full, accessible and adequate information about the mining project and its risks. They should be fully engaged in decision-making through fair and free processes, and should be given the opportunity to develop with the relevant authorities mitigation measures to ensure that risks and potential impacts are as far as possible avoided. It is also essential that measures are put in place a the earliest opportunity to ensure that if any human rights abuses do occur, Dongria Kondh and other communities are able to defend their rights and access effective remedies, as well as ensure that perpetrators of violations are held accountable.

Amnesty International urges the National Environmental Appellate Authority

• To withdraw the environmental clearance for opening a mine on Niyamgiri hills until all necessary measures are taken by the government to ensure that the mining project will not negatively impact the human rights of Dongria Kondh and other communities who may be affected by the mining operations;

• Undertake an independent and impartial human rights and environmental impact assessment of the bauxite mining proposal on the local communities including the attendant risks, which Dongria Kondh and other communities have an opportunity to participate in, and to make the findings public;

• Ensure that these findings are disseminated to the communities in an accessible manner, especially to those who are not formally literate, to provide them with information towards a genuine process of consultation;

• Set up a genuine process of consultation with Dongria Kondh and other communities who may be affected by the proposed mining project and provide them with full, accessible and adequate information about the mining project and its risks;

• Ensures these communities are fully engaged in decision making through fair and free processes that provide them the opportunity to develop mitigation measures to ensure that risks and potential impacts are as far as possible avoided

and

• Ensure that decisions are taken on the development and use of the traditional lands of Dongria Kondh communities with their free, prior, informed consent.

Thank you for your consideration for the above recommendations, and we look forward to your response at the earliest.

Sincerely,

Madhu Malhotra

Deputy Program Director

Asia-Pacific Program

Copies to:

Mr. Vijai Sharma Secretary Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) Government of India (GoI), New Delhi	Mr. A. K. Tripathy Chief Secretary, Government of Orissa Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India
Mr. Arun Kumar Yadav Joint Secretary (Human Rights) Ministry of Home Affairs Government of India New Delhi, India	Mr. Madhukar Gupta Secretary (Justice), Union Ministry of Law and Justice Government of India New Delhi, India
Mr. G. B. Mukherji Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs Government of India New Delhi, India	Mrs. Urmila Singh Chairperson, National Commission on Scheduled Tribes New Delhi, India
Dr. Mukesh Kumar Senior Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer VAL, Lanjigarh Orissa, India	Mr. Justice S. Rajendra Babu Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission New Delhi, India.