Odisha’s tribal community finds itself in a rut in its decades-long fight against private players that seek to mine minerals in the Niyamgiri hill range. For the past 365 days, the people of Sijimali have been protesting to protect their land from corporate giants’ takeover.

Its dense forest cover has piqued the interest of London-based Vedanta Limited which emerged as the leading bidder for the Sijimali Bauxite Block in an auction conducted by the Odisha government on February 15, 2023, according to a press release by Vedanta Limited.

Odisha holds over half of India’s bauxite reserves, 95% of which lie in the state’s southwest districts of Rayagada, Koraput, and Kalahandi. They are home to around 8000 Dongria Kondh tribes — Particularly vulnerable tribal groups, as per official records. The Sijimali area which is located close to Niyamgiri, consists of a tribal group known as ‘Kondh’ (a subsidiary community of the larger ‘Dongria Kondh’ tribe), Praja (another tribal community) and Dalits.

Labanya Nayak of Banteji village of Rayagada district, says, “Sijimali is the only source of our life and livelihoods. We can’t imagine our status without the Sijimali hills. We are against the government’s decision to hand over the hills to Vedant for mining purposes. So we are opposing such an anti-people policy of the government through peaceful movement”.

…

They also pointed out that the report makes no mention of the 200-odd perennial streams that emerge from Sijimali, or the dense forests on the hilltop that are home to a variety of tree species such as sal, tamarind, piya sal, amla, harida, and bahada. The report also fails to include the primary source of revenue for locals: the collection of Siali leaves and honey.

Some of the most important caverns, including Parapar and Baghpar, which are venerated as the abodes of animals and where every year ceremonies are done to invoke animal spirits, are also not included. All those who testified stated unequivocally that the EIA report makes no mention of the local peoples’ cultural heritage, generations-long relationship with nature, or the traditional community forest governance principles that they use to protect the land in Sijimali.