Abhijit Roy Chowdhury
NEW DELHI: More trouble is brewing up for London based mining giant Vedanta as AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi has decided to visit Laljiganj district on August 26 to celebrate ‘Adiwasi Adhikar Diwas” for the primitive tribal peoples of the Niyamgiri hills.
Much importance is being attached to this high profile visit as it is come close in the heels of Dr NC Saxena report on Vedanta mining in which the committee had strongly recommended for put an end to the mining activities due to large scale violation of forest laws by the companies in the Niyamgiri hills. The programme is organized by Indian Youth Congress.
Addressing a joint press conference here senior congress leader Bhakat Charan Das and IYC leader and MP Pradeep Maji said that “the Vedanta company should shift from the Niyamgiri reserve forest area and can switchover to samarmalli, puromalior to sagimali area for carrying out its business.
Mr Das accused the state government for misleading the facts and hand in glove with the Vedanta company in violating forest laws and demanded that central government should accept recommendation of Dr NC Saxena report and stop Vedanta from mining.
