Experts raise concerns over environmental impacts of proposed Sijimali bauxite in Odisha

New Delhi, Jul 6 (PTI) Experts have written an open letter to various authorities raising concerns regarding the proposed Sijimali bauxite mining project by Vedanta in Odisha, saying it will have irreversible impacts on forests, biodiversity, wildlife habitats, water systems, and forest-dependent communities. The project, which involves mining high-grade bauxite reserves of 311 million tonnes, will spread over 1,549 hectares and requires the diversion of 709.72 hectares of forest land. "We respectfully urge that the approvals granted to this project be withdrawn and any further appraisal, if undertaken, be reviewed independently and with scientific rigour," said the letter signed by Prakriti Srivastava, a former Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer, and Prerna Singh Bindra, a former member of the National Board for Wildlife's standing committee. Most recently, the project received key clearance from the Environment Ministry's expert appraisal committee (EAC) in May on the condition that no mining activity will take place on the 709.72 hectares of forest land without obtaining Stage-II formal forest clearance. The project extends across 18 villages in Odisha's Kalahandi and Rayagada districts, and will allegedly displace 162 families. According to the letter, released on Sunday, the region falls under the Constitution's Fifth Schedule, requiring strict compliance with the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA), and the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006. "Instead, private mining is reportedly being pushed without the legally mandated prior consent of local gram sabhas. Local communities have reported that the district administration used police intimidation to pressure indigenous populations to sign consent forms," said the letter. Srivastava and Bindra also alleged that while the Stage-I clearance states that the ecological impact of tree felling at the project site will be minimal due to sparse vegetation, the ground reality is different. The area "supports a rich variety of ethnomedicinal plants including those prized by local Kondh traditional healers," according to the letter. Concerns exist about the project's environmental impact assessment because, for example, it underplays the hydrological impact of open-cast mining, said the letter. "According to local groups and experts, the blasting will disrupt or permanently destroy over 100 perennial streams and the Panichida-Shuagad river, threatening agricultural irrigation and aquatic life. Likewise, it also ignores the potential respiratory hazards for local communities, such as serious long-term lung damage, associated with dust, blasting, and heavy vehicle movement," the letter added. Highlighting the possible impacts on wildlife, Srivastava and Bindra claimed that Sijimali's forests and hill ecosystems support a diversity of wildlife, including elephants, sloth bears, sambhar, foxes, jackals, porcupines, pangolins, jungle cats, and wild dogs, all Schedule I species under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The region also hosts the critically endangered Jeypore Ground Gecko, a highly range-restricted species whose habitat is extremely vulnerable to blasting, excavation, and landscape alteration associated with opencast mining. However, the Stage-I clearance states that no rare and endangered species inhabit the mining lease area coming under the Rayagada forest division, according to the letter. "At a time when India's remaining natural landscapes are under unprecedented pressure, decisions that weaken statutory conservation safeguards in favour of extractive activities warrant the highest level of scrutiny," said the letter. PTI ALC KSI KSI