Earlier, the Larsen & Turbo (L&T) had been allotted the Sijimali Block for mining in Kashipur of Rayagada district with an area of 1,549.09 hectare (ha) for which Term of Reference (ToR) was issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF and CC). Now the block has been granted to M/s. Vedanta Limited having the same area through E-auction dated 9.02.2023 and accordingly the Government of Odisha granted the Letter of Intent (LoI) for grant of mining lease.
The LoI is valid up to 28.02.2026. Land cover of the Mine Lease Area (MLA) includes private land of 127.9 ha, Government land of 722.9 ha and forest land of 699.7 ha, totalling 1,549.022 ha. Life of the mine will be 31 years.
A mining plan is yet to be approved by Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) for Vedanta. No mining activities exist in the MLA and no mining activities have been carried out by Vedanta as the block has been recently auctioned. Since Sijimali Block is a virgin block and mining lease is yet to be granted, so no mining has been carried out within the mine lease area.
699.7 ha of forest land is involved within the MLA. Forest clearance has not been granted though a request letter has been submitted to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF), Odisha and Divisional Forest Officer, Kalahandi and Rayagada on 28.04.2023. Vedanta requested the district Collector and DFOs of Rayagada and Kalahandi on March 9 for compensatory afforestation land allotment. Again, it was requested to the district Collector and DFOs of Rayagada and Kalahandi on April 14. Subsequently, Collector Rayagada requested all Tehsildars of the district on April 20 to identify suitable land for compensatory afforestation purpose.
Ground and surface water will be used for the mining purpose and water will be withdrawn after taking the permission from the competent authority. The process is yet to be initiated. Preparation of a list of flora and fauna has to be finalised. A wildlife conservation plan has to be prepared accordingly.
The mine site falls in 18 revenue villages covering 500 Project Affected Families(PAFs) and 100 Project Displaced Families(PDFs). Rehabilitation and Resettlement(R &R) study/plan is not yet complete, which needs to be incorporated in the Environment Impact Assessment(EIA) Report.
There is a court case between the L&T and the State Government. The L&T filed a Writ Petition (C) on February 2, 2021 in the Orissa High Court. After hearing all the parties, the High Court dismissed the petition of L&T on 2.3.2023. Then on 25.03.2023, L&T filed a SLP with SLP No. 6163 of 2023 in the Supreme Court by challenging the judgement of the Orissa High Court dated 02.03.2023.
The villages such as Malipadar and Bundel are falling under Eco-Sensitive Zone of Karlapat Wildlife Sanctuary as per Draft Notification of Sanctuary dated 09.08.2019. The letter/certificate has not been obtained from the Forest Department in this regard.
In the context of the above case in the apex court and sanctuary issue, the MoEF & CC has deferred the proposal of Vedanta Company. There are other issues like approval of mine plan by IBM, identification of suitable land by the Government through the district administration, PCCF’s nod for forest clearance, certificate from Karlapat Sanctuary/Forest Department, R&R study/plan, certificate for water use, etc. The company has also to work on several instances of people’s resistance still cropping up in Kashipur block of Rayagada and Lanjigarh in Kalahandi.