Govt denies green signal to Vedanta mining plan

Anil Agarwal's Refinery 'Flouted' Environment Act

New Delhi: The Union environment and forests ministry on Tuesday rejected the clearance for Orissa Mining Corporation to mine the Niyamgiri hills for Vedanta's aluminium refinery in Lanjigarh.
    The rejection is the most drastic of the measures taken by the government, which have given the impression that the noose could be tightening around Anil Agarwal's $1.7 billion Orissa operations. The MoEF has decided to slap a showcause notice on the aluminium czar asking why his refinery unit should not be denied the right to expand its plant from one million tonnes per annum to 6 million tonnes per annum. Another showcause notice has been served on Agarwal asking why his plant should not be shut down for infringements of the Environment Protection Act.
    And if this was not enough, the government, in a move that could possibly choke other supplies of raw material for its refinery, has decided to investigate whether the other mines Vedanta buys bauxite from have environmental clearance. The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) had reported on Monday that 11 of the 14 did not. IN AND OUT, IN 5 YEARS
2005 | Orissa applies for permission to mine bauxite from Niyamgiri for Vedanta refinery 2007 | MoEF gives 'in principle' clearance 2007-2008 | SC allows one Vedanta subsidiary to apply for bauxite mining, denies another 2009 | Orissa applies to Centre for final forest clearance 2010 | MoEF experts find violations N C Saxena panel says laws flouted with collusion of state govt. Forest Advisory Committee recommends withdrawal of forest clearance Forest clearance rejected, probe ordered

Protesters dressed as Na'vi tribals from the film Avatar, in London in July