Amnesty: British mine will harm local Indians
Tuesday 09 February 2010
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EmailHuman rights organisation Amnesty International has warned that a British company's proposed mine would harm indigenous people in eastern India - who already suffer from polluted water and air because of the company's nearby refinery.
The Vedanta Resources projects in the Lanjigarh area of Orissa state have drawn increasing criticism.
Amnesty researchers said on Tuesday that the planned bauxite mine in the Niyamgiri Hills near Lanjigarh threatens the existence of the Dongria Kondh, an 8,000-strong tribe of indigenous people.
Senior researcher Ramesh Gopalakrishnan said that people in the area are already "living in the shadow of a massive refinery, breathing polluted air and afraid to drink from and bathe in a river that is one of the main sources of water in the region."
Two Church of England funding bodies have sold their shares in Vedanta because of objections to its Lanjigarh operations.
Tribal rights group Survival has called on Avatar director James Cameron to help the Dongria Kondh, comparing their plight to that of the Na'avi fighting to protect the forest moon of Pandora in his Oscar-nominated film.
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