SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
And We Call This Progress?
Business As Usual: Vedanta Mine Plans Threaten India's Poorest. An ecosystem destroyed. A way of life gone forever. Private profit and public pain.
Jul 28, 2009
Bauxite mountains are part of a very delicate ecosystem. The mining
of bauxite and the process by which it is turned into aluminum is among
the most toxic, environmentally devastating processes imaginable.
If Vedanta is allowed to go ahead with its plans for mining the Niyamgiri Hills in Orissa, in India's
east, for bauxite it will lead to the devastation of a whole ecosystem
and the destruction of not just the Dongria Kondh tribal community, but
eventually all those whose livelihoods depend on that ecosystem.
The
battle lines are very clearly drawn. On the one hand the Indian
government with all its might, its judiciary and its police has aligned
itself with the mining cartel of several corporations, led from the
front by Vedanta. On the other side are India's poorest forest-dwelling people who stand to be displaced from their homes and lose their livelihoods and their way of life.
In some ways it's an ancient battle and a familiar one,
whose story has been played out over centuries in every continent
across the world and has had a more or less similar outcome, ie the
corporations always win. This is commonly known as "progress".
However,
today, in the era of climate change, surely it's time to realise that
forests, river systems, mountain ranges and people who know how to live
in ecologically sustainable ways, are worth more than all the bauxite
in the world. Vedanta ought to be stopped in its tracks. Now.
Immediately. Before any more damage is done.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
© 2023 The Guardian
Arundhati Roy
Arundhati Roy was born in 1959 in Shillong, India. She studied architecture in New Delhi, where she now lives, and has worked as a film designer, actor, and screenplay writer in India. Her most recent book, a novel, is: "The Ministry of Utmost Happiness." Her other books include: "Listening to Grasshoppers: Fields Notes on Democracy," "The God of Small Things," and "The End of Imagination."
Bauxite mountains are part of a very delicate ecosystem. The mining
of bauxite and the process by which it is turned into aluminum is among
the most toxic, environmentally devastating processes imaginable.
If Vedanta is allowed to go ahead with its plans for mining the Niyamgiri Hills in Orissa, in India's
east, for bauxite it will lead to the devastation of a whole ecosystem
and the destruction of not just the Dongria Kondh tribal community, but
eventually all those whose livelihoods depend on that ecosystem.
The
battle lines are very clearly drawn. On the one hand the Indian
government with all its might, its judiciary and its police has aligned
itself with the mining cartel of several corporations, led from the
front by Vedanta. On the other side are India's poorest forest-dwelling people who stand to be displaced from their homes and lose their livelihoods and their way of life.
In some ways it's an ancient battle and a familiar one,
whose story has been played out over centuries in every continent
across the world and has had a more or less similar outcome, ie the
corporations always win. This is commonly known as "progress".
However,
today, in the era of climate change, surely it's time to realise that
forests, river systems, mountain ranges and people who know how to live
in ecologically sustainable ways, are worth more than all the bauxite
in the world. Vedanta ought to be stopped in its tracks. Now.
Immediately. Before any more damage is done.
Arundhati Roy
Arundhati Roy was born in 1959 in Shillong, India. She studied architecture in New Delhi, where she now lives, and has worked as a film designer, actor, and screenplay writer in India. Her most recent book, a novel, is: "The Ministry of Utmost Happiness." Her other books include: "Listening to Grasshoppers: Fields Notes on Democracy," "The God of Small Things," and "The End of Imagination."
Bauxite mountains are part of a very delicate ecosystem. The mining
of bauxite and the process by which it is turned into aluminum is among
the most toxic, environmentally devastating processes imaginable.
If Vedanta is allowed to go ahead with its plans for mining the Niyamgiri Hills in Orissa, in India's
east, for bauxite it will lead to the devastation of a whole ecosystem
and the destruction of not just the Dongria Kondh tribal community, but
eventually all those whose livelihoods depend on that ecosystem.
The
battle lines are very clearly drawn. On the one hand the Indian
government with all its might, its judiciary and its police has aligned
itself with the mining cartel of several corporations, led from the
front by Vedanta. On the other side are India's poorest forest-dwelling people who stand to be displaced from their homes and lose their livelihoods and their way of life.
In some ways it's an ancient battle and a familiar one,
whose story has been played out over centuries in every continent
across the world and has had a more or less similar outcome, ie the
corporations always win. This is commonly known as "progress".
However,
today, in the era of climate change, surely it's time to realise that
forests, river systems, mountain ranges and people who know how to live
in ecologically sustainable ways, are worth more than all the bauxite
in the world. Vedanta ought to be stopped in its tracks. Now.
Immediately. Before any more damage is done.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.