VIDEO-Mine- The Story of a Sacred Mountain http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_58875.shtml

To be a Dongria Kondh is to live in the Niyamgiri Hills in Orissa state, India - they do not live anywhere else. Yet Vedanta Resources is determined to mine their sacred mountain's rich seam of bauxite (aluminium ore).The Dongria farm the hill slopes, grow crops in among the forest and gather wild fruit and leaves for sale. There are over 8000 members of the tribe, living in villages scattered throughout the Niyamgiri Hills.They call themselves Jharnia, meaning ‘protector of streams’, because they protect their sacred mountains and the life-giving rivers that rise within its thick forests.

To the Dongria, Niyam Dongar hill is the seat of their god, Niyam Raja. To Vedanta it is a $2billion deposit of bauxite.Vedanta’s open pit mine would destroy the forests, disrupt the rivers and spell the end of the Dongria Kondh as a distinct people.The Dongria, and neighbouring Kondh tribals who also revere Niyam Raja, are determined to protect their sacred mountain.They have held road blocks, a human chain and countless demonstrations against the company.A Vedanta jeep was set alight when it was driven onto the sacred plateau.At the centre of the struggle is the Dongria’s sacred mountain, the ‘mountain of law’. The Dongrias worship the top of the mountain as the seat of their god and protect the forests there.

Vedanta Resources wants to mine the bauxite from the top of the same mountain.The Dongria Kondh would lose their livelihood, their identity and the sanctity of their most religious site.In common with other displaced tribal peoples worldwide, they would also lose their present good health, their self-sufficiency and their expert knowledge of the hills, forests and farming systems that they have nurtured.SufferingOther Kondh groups are already suffering due to a bauxite refinery, built and operated by Vedanta, at the base of the Niyamgiri Hills.Villagers who have been removed from their homes for the refinery have suffered threats and intimidation. They have lost both their land and their means of supporting themselves.They are also suffering from health problems due to pollution from the refinery, which they blame for skin problems, livestock diseases and crop damage.The Orissa government’s pollution control board has ruled that chemical emissions from the refinery are ‘alarming’ and ‘continuous’.