Commodity Online
LONDON: Anil Agarwal promoted Vedanta group is in a tight spot following allegations that one of its bauxite mines in Orissa could destroy the remote Dongria Kondh tribe.

The allegation was made by Survival International, the group that fights on behalf of those whose cultures and human rights are threatened by the modern world, the Telegraph, UK reported.

Jo Woodman, a researcher and campaigner for Survival, said the mine would end the tribe's way of life forever, by polluting the streams, cutting down the forests and destroying the mountain that it holds sacred.

Woodman said that the Dongria Kondh view the mountain as sacred, grow crops on the slopes, and gather wild fruit in the dense forests, therefore, the issue should be treated with urgency.

The proposal has been several years in the approval process and has been backed by both the national and state governments, but a final ruling from the Indian Supreme Court is expected soon, the Telegraph report added.

Survival has also written to shareholders including Coutts Bank, Standard Life, Barclays Bank, Abbey National and HSBC, as well as Middlesbrough and Wolverhampton councils, urging them to sell their stakes unless Vedanta abandons its plans.

However, Vedanta group has said that it is a socially responsible company and firmly denied that its actions will have such a major effect, claiming that modern mining methods will allow it to mine the bauxite - the key material in the production of aluminium - without destroying the local environment.