Odisha: Several residents, over 50 police personnel injured in clash amid protests against mining

More than 50 police personnel and several residents were injured on Tuesday in a clash between the police and Adivasi residents in Odisha’s Rayagada district in connection with a road project linked to Vedanta Limited’s proposed Sijimali bauxite mine, The Hindu reported.

The confrontation occurred in Sagabari village under the Kashipur block, where residents have been protesting the construction of a roughly 3 km-long road from Purlong to Sagabari Ghat, which would provide access to the mine in the ecologically sensitive Sijimali hills, the Hindustan Times reported.

Mining company Vedanta Limited had secured the bauxite block through an auction in 2023.

The police said that a team had arrived in the area early in the morning to execute a non-bailable arrest warrant against a local leader, Sudarshan Majhi, who is among persons opposing the project.

He was wanted in connection with 14 criminal cases, including an attempt to murder, Rayagada Superintendent of Police Swathy S Kumar told The Times of India.

The police team was surrounded and attacked by a large group of residents, according to Kumar.

“The police found it difficult to retreat,” she said. “As many as 58 personnel, including a sub-divisional officer, were injured. Six personnel were shifted to Visakhapatnam as their condition deteriorated.”

The police used tear gas and carried out a lathi charge to disperse the crowd and retreat, Kumar was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

According to activists, eight residents sustained serious injuries after being assaulted by the police, The Hindu reported.

The authorities have imposed prohibitory orders restricting the assembly of more than four persons within a 100-metre radius of the project site for a month.

Vedanta Limited said that it would be inappropriate to comment on the clash as mining operations at the Sijimali site have not yet begun, The Times of India reported.

“The incident involves the administration and local residents,” an unidentified representative of the company told the newspaper. “Vedanta remains committed to fulfilling all statutory and corporate social responsibility obligations.”

Action against protesters concerning, says citizens’ group

A group of 60 concerned citizens on Wednesday condemned the violence against residents in the Kashipur block and urged Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to intervene urgently to ensure that steps are taken to protect and uphold the constitutional rights of those living in the region.

In a letter to the Bharatiya Janata Party leader, the Concerned Citizens Forum in the state noted that both police and senior district officials were present when the violence broke out

“We are deeply concerned that in a democracy, Adivasis and Dalits opposed to the mining operations of Vedanta Limited and its contract company Maithri, have been subject to ceaseless violence and arbitrary arrests since mid-2023,” it said.

The forum said that residents in the region had adopted democratic means to protect their land, livelihood, water and air while also holding on to their cultural heritage and the abode of their sacred deity.

The entire area is protected under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, the letter noted.

The Fifth Schedule provides for the administration and control of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes in 10 states. It empowers the governor to regulate tribal land, restrict land transfer and control moneylending, with a mandatory Tribes Advisory Council.

The letter said that local activists had appealed to several authorities, including Union ministers and presidents, to halt the proposed mining project.

“However, in this Scheduled Area, the state administration has resorted to repression to push through Vedanta Limited’s mining project,” the Concerned Citizens Forum added.

The letter said that hundreds of criminal cases had been filed against the residents of the region and “almost a hundred of them have undergone incarceration and many still continue to languish in jail”. It added that such repression had escalated sharply in the last few months.

The forum urged the chief minister to revoke the prohibitory orders issued in the region. It further urged him to revoke the proposed mining lease in Sijimali and “ensure the protection of the jal, jangal and jameen [water, forests and land] of the Adivasis of the region”.

The letter sought the immediate halting of the proposed approach road to the mining area.

“Withdraw the entire police force in the area and immediately stop all drone surveillance,” it said. “Withdraw all criminal cases foisted on villagers who are opposed to bauxite mining.”